Pokemon: The Change
by CartelSaide
Summary: The world of Pokemon has long since been viewed as a world of peace, prosperity, harmony...but that all flipped when The Change occurred 12 years ago. The world was covered in a bright light that, once gone, showed the world as a devastated and dying land full of dangerous and feral pokemon. It's survival of the fittest now. Will you survive?
1. Part One - Viridian

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_Welcome to Pokemon: The Change, a project I've taken on inspired by and originating from a role-play I'm taking part in on RPA. For those who don't know, my project shares the same name as the original RP which is located on [without the spaces] if you're interested in reading the original, raw work. In the future, I'll try to make my Author's Notes short and snappy, or at least a bit entertaining, but I have to get a few things out of the way first, so bare with me please...

What I've done here is I've taken the original RP from RPA and pretty much just copied and pasted everything into a word document. I broke everything up into parts so that (A) it would be easier to edit/revise the otherwise oddly formatted story and (B) so that the story would make sense to the reader and not jump all over the place, as in the case of the original RP. This is a long, tedious process that requires a lot of attention and thought, but more than that it takes care and caution seeing as I am fiddling with not only my written work, but a large amount of other peoples' work as well. Since I've mentioned it already I want to make it extra clear: **I am not the only writer in this project**. The only credit I am taking is for my own work, which is semi-heavily editing and revising all of the written work in the original RP so that it's easier for the reader to keep up with, as well writing the parts for my own characters. I have written a bit more than I just mentioned, but for the most part I'm seriously not the writer for this stuff - the credit for most of the pieces that make up this project go to a lot different people. So at the end of every part of the story is a small credits section that states who did what and where credit is due. Please refer to it before giving me grief on the matter; thank you.

Before I wrap this up and get to the damn story already, I have one last thing that I feel is important to mention: The original RP is still an ongoing work-in-progress, so as a result this project is too. What I'm getting at here is please don't complain to me about the time it takes to get things done. This project is just something I've taken on for the fun of it, as well as to build my skills as an editor; not to mention the RP is written by a large group of people who take part in the RP as a hobby and aren't writing for your satisfaction but for their own. More importantly, don't give them grief over it either. _If **anyone** [myself included] indirectly and/or directly involved in this project and/or the original RP receives any form of harassment, this project is at risk for deletion as a result._ You should be able to figure out the rest from there.

Thank you kindly for being aware of all this. I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

**_FORWARD:_**

The world of Pokémon has long been known as a a world of peace. While an occasional threat might arise, there has yet to be anything that the world can't overcome.

This time, the world may not be up to the challenge.

Twelve years ago, a light came from the direction of Mount Silver, the mountain that separates the Kanto and Johto regions. The light eventually engulfed the entire world, blinding human and Pokémon alike, and then it vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

And the world had changed.

The entire world had suddenly transformed into a giant wasteland. The lakes and oceans were polluted, and it became impossible for water Pokémon to live in their natural habitats. Grass Pokémon slowly began to grow sick. Other Pokémon began to grow feral, making travel between towns extremely dangerous.

Despite this, people tried to rebuild, just as they always did after a disaster. This time, however, would be different. Eventually, people with much more malicious intentions started surfacing with the belief that the world would remain as it was, never to return to its former peaceful state. Violence of all sorts like robberies, murder, and gang activity took a sharp increase. Now, people not only had to fear the wild Pokémon, who occasionally attacked towns themselves in large groups, they also had to fear their own kind. The people had believed that the Pokémon League would come forward and protect them, but this was an illusion, too. The Gyms had suddenly been deserted not long after what would come to be known as the Change, the whereabouts of the Gym Leaders and their followers unknown. It was clear that the League was still active - Pokémon Centers and the storage system were still very much in effect. That was the only other sign of their existence. The Gyms themselves either became gang hangouts or shelters...and people began to lose hope.

Even Pokémon Trainers were now few in number. Most Trainers had either been killed not long after the Change, or had retired in order to better support their families, or simply for their own safety. There are some courageous - or, as some might call them, foolish - Trainers who brave the wastes, hired as mercenaries to protect others on their way to other towns or other such odd jobs, since the League was all but gone. However, there are Trainers who maintain a purpose - they seek answers. Why did the Change happen? What brought it about? Perhaps, if they find the answers, they can return the world to the way it was before...

* * *

**_PROLOGUE:_**

**_Route 22_**

A lone Houndoom silently crept along Route 22, keeping his senses aware of all around him. It was necessary if one wished to survive in this wasteland to always stay on guard. If you didn't pay close enough attention to your surroundings, you could miss your chance to obtain food...or you may become food yourself.

However, the Houndoom was lucky this day. He picked up two scents in the air- one human, and one...he couldn't be sure. He knew that the smell was a familiar one, yet the Houndoom could not place it. But there would be time to figure it out later; the dog Pokémon dropped and pressed himself to the ground in an attempt to make himself as invisible as possible. The wasteland didn't offer much cover, but a skilled hunter didn't need it.

The Houndoom kept his red, feral eyes trained on the direction the scent came from, and sure enough, a human eventually appeared on the horizon. Following the human was a dinosaur-like creature with a flower around its neck - a type of Pokémon rarely seen nowadays. The Houndoom's eyes narrowed. He guessed that at one point the Pokémon would have proven to be a difficult challenge, but not now that the environment would surely have weakened it. The human too appeared to be weak and frail; no challenge at all.

What could have easily passed as a grin grew across the Houndoom's face as the two crept closer. A fierce, low growl crept up from within his chest, for he was beginning to lose patience with his prey. It didn't help when the two suddenly stopped for what appeared to be no reason. Foam had begun to build around the hellhound's mouth, his irises growing a dark red and his pupils slowly expanding. There would be no more waiting - Houndoom was hungry _now_.

Without a second thought, he flung himself towards his prey.

The Houndoom released a piercing howl into the empty night air, foam being flung off from his face as he ran and despite his war cry his prey was unaware of his approach, it seemed.

As he pressed on, the Houndoom felt several sharp objects that appeared to be leaves began to cut away at his body, but no matter - Houndoom was upon them, and his prey would soon be at his mercy. It would be best to take out the Pokémon first, as it seemed to be the one attacking and certainly posed the biggest threat. With another howl, the Houndoom leaped into the air, ready to begin tearing into his opponent's fle-

_BANG_. The Houndoom felt something slam into his body. The powerful force sent the Houndoom back to the ground, but this was merely an inconvenience. The Houndoom attempted to rise again in order to continue his attack, but stopped when he felt a cold sensation in his chest. Suddenly growing light-headed, the Houndoom slowly craned his head back to look at the area where he had taken the blow and now felt this strange sensation of slipping away. As his vision began to grow blurry, Houndoom noticed the small silver glint in his chest, blood surrounding it. The Houndoom sniffed the air briefly and knew immediately that this wasn't his prey's blood- it was his own.

And with that realization, the Houndoom lowered his head and died.

It had ended so quickly. Haru and Meganium had been careless- they hadn't been paying any attention to their surroundings. Had it not been stopped, the feral Houndoom would have killed them both, or at the very least, injured Meganium.

Thankfully, that hadn't happened.

"What in the flying hell are you doing, wandering around like that without a weapon?" asked a tall, bearded man who now held a smoking shotgun, "You have some kind of death wish, boy?"

Haru had to think before answering. Given all that had happened, maybe he did deserve death. But if he did, there would be no way for him to make up for what he had done.

"Bah, whatever," growled the man, "but look, it's dangerous in these parts, especially at night. I'll take you to Viridian City for free if you'd like - only this once. If I didn't at least offer, I wouldn't be able to sleep."

Haru stayed silent for another moment before answering with an affirmative nod.

"We'd like that very much, sir-"

"WOAH, no, not sir. Doug. The name's Doug. Sir doesn't sit well with me, and neither does Mister. Long as you don't call me either of those, we're in business." the man said, then he frowned as his gaze turned to Meganium. "Also, boy, don't you have any other Pokémon aside from that Meganium? You know Grass types don't do well out here."

"No, I don't," Haru said with a shake of his head, "I don't feel like I need any other Pokémon."

Doug shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Whatever, kid. We'd better get moving before more of those things show up," he said, pointing at the dead Houndoom with his gun. Haru nodded in response, and the group began to head towards Viridian City. As they went, Haru glanced back at the fallen Pokémon.

"I'm sorry," he said before turning away. Meganium gave his friend a sad glance before taking the rear of the group.

* * *

**_POKEMON: THE CHANGE_**

* * *

**_PART ONE - Viridian  
{Chris, Mina, Alex, and Haru}_**

Mina had been in Viridian City for three nights now, and it would have been four if she hadn't gone to check out Pallet Town the day before. Pokémon from Victory Road were finding their way down to Viridian recently, so it was the least she could do to try to stop as many as she could - Pallet Town was in considerably less danger.

Her routine had been the same as it always was when she was on a job: first, she would ask Espeon to use his psychic powers to give a general "reading" of the day. Within a given margin of error, his predictions were usually solid, so Mina relied on them to prepare herself. Considering how many variables there were, it was difficult to predict exact occurrences, but he could predict general trends. More specifically, he could predict how violent the day ahead would be on a scale of: "Nah, it's chill" to "Try not to soil yourself." In the recent past, the trend had been quite stable with a moderate level of danger and violence involved. Thus the trend for today had been, unsurprisingly, moderate.

After this, Mina would eat whatever the townspeople had to offer her, and take a ride on Charizard to perform surveillance of the surrounding area from the sky. If she (or Charizard) could spot any trouble, they would warn the townspeople and prepare the defenses. If not, then she would go back anyway and try to make herself useful. She would do these surveillance checks every few hours or so. Other than alerting the town, her general plan in cases of actual danger, which there had been plenty of in the last few days, was that she station herself - more specifically, her Pokémon - on the front lines, where they could absorb the brunt of the offense. Thankfully, attacks typically consisted of single Pokémon instead of hordes, which made everything easier to handle. Today, the only dangerous Pokémon to approach had been a pair of scrawny Mightyenas, which had been taken care of easily enough.

Mina was currently on her fifth patrol of the day, flying above the wastes on her Charizard's back. This was her favorite part of her job; there was a sense of freedom which was incomparable.

She surveyed the landscape, looking for anything moving or approaching Viridian. Everything seemed clear, until she noticed some figures coming in from the west.

"Char, do you see that?" Her Pokémon grunted in confirmation. Mina continued, "Can you see what they are?" The Charizard growled lightly, signifying that she didn't think they were hostile. They flew a bit closer and noticed that it was people who were approaching, not hostile Pokémon. As curious as that was, it was unlikely to be a great threat, so Mina let Charizard know that they should head back to the City, as nothing dangerous was apparently heading their way at present. As they landed, some of the kids gathered around to take yet another look at Charizard. Sure, seeing a domesticated Pokémon was somewhat rare nowadays, and Charizard didn't seem to mind, but the attention made Mina uncomfortable, so she tried her best to ignore them. Instead, she walked over to the Pokémon Center and slumped back against the wall, with Charizard lying down beside her. There was nothing that needed her immediate attention, so she figured she could relax.

* * *

A drop of blood slowly made its way down Alexander's cheek, the liquid trail obscured by the dirt and grime that it had to climb over as it fell, the earth so thick on him that it clung to the hunter like a second skin. Still, Alexander was used to it, both the blood and the dirt; it was only part of the trade, after all. You couldn't really expect to go out into the wild these days for any length of time and not come out with at least a few scratches at the very least, and Alex had been out there for FAR longer than a few measly days.

A customer had asked for a dozen Noctowl pelts. For what reason Alex had not asked. All that he knew was that the amount offered to him for this bounty was more than enough to keep his ammo pouch stuffed with every type of round he could need for a good many months. All the ammo in the world, however, didn't make hunting those damned owls any easier. They were near impossible to spot in the daylight, hiding themselves within withered trees or amongst cliff faces, and at night they were nearly ghosts, striking from above without so much as a whisper of sound. The only real way to hunt them reliably was to sit in the treetops and watch a Caterpie, hoping that the stupid little insect managed to get itself eaten. Needless to say, sitting and watching a Caterpie was hardly an exciting way to spend a night, especially when you needed to worry about being put on the menu yourself.

It had taken just over two weeks, but eventually the hunt had drawn to a close, Alex heaving a large and noticeably bloody rucksack out of the woods, never wanting to eat Noctowl again in his life. All that was left now was to turn his skins in and collect his reward. Then he could take a shower, get himself cleaned up and get ready to head out again, ready to spend time in the wild NOT watching asinine little bugs squirm around all night.

His buyer was located at a small clothing and house wares store near the centre of town, a decent enough place to get something that you needed, with a slightly deluded owner that continually pumped out rather…unique clothing designs, despite the complete impracticality of such things. Despite himself, however, Alexander couldn't help but admit that if his kills wound up being turned into a Noctowl cloak he would probably wind up being sorely tempted to buy it for the warmth and visual appeal alone. He'd have to check and see what was done with them the next time he was in town…

So wrapped up in his thoughts of what exactly would be done with the owls, Alex didn't even notice the reactions of the rest of the townsfolk as he walked, not that he really cared, regardless. He'd seen it all before, the wide berth that they gave him, either due to his appearance or his parcel, the nervous looks that inevitably went to the large knife on his hip or the rifle slung over his shoulder. Even the "domesticated" Pokémon were generally either wary or openly hostile towards him, with most hissing or growling at him as he moved by, made uncomfortable from the scent of old blood that emanated from his clothing. He had tried to get rid of that, of course; it wasn't good to have a smell that could be tracked or noticed by whatever he was stalking, but it had turned out to be far more trouble than it was worth, seemingly nearly buried into his very skin for how fast his new clothes acquired it.

With a tired shove, Alex made his way into the clothing store, dropping the package onto the counter with a sigh of relief. For birds, Noctowl were HEAVY! Yet another reason to hate the bloody things… He didn't bother to speak to the owner of the establishment. They had worked together before, and she knew all too well that he would have nothing to say, good or bad, about the task that she had sent him on. So, she simply handed over a small bag, its size comfortable in Alex's hand as he gave it a small bounce. He wasn't really sure why, but it was a ritual that he always did upon receiving payment… Perhaps it was a callback to the old movies that he had seen on the TV growing up? In any case, the currency of the land was in bills, making the weight of the gesture sadly insubstantial. Turning and moving towards the door, Alexander uttered the only words that he would say that day to the shopkeeper. "You know how to contact me if you need something else."

It was a good feeling to be done with this particular job, and the only two things that occupied his mind upon leaving were, firstly, a nice hot shower and, secondly, what exactly he felt like going after next. Hunting when he was flush with cash was always more fun, as he could go after game that he wanted to track down, favoring the rare beasts that hid within the forests and caves of the land. He had spotted a shiny Ponyta on this most recent trip, and the possibility of bringing it back was a tempting one indeed… Probably would fetch a decent price as well. Maybe this was one that he should bring back alive? People seemed to have a love for the discolored version of animals that bordered on the fetishistic, and the horse was certainly small enough to fall prey to tranquilizers.

Unfortunately, Alex's train of thought was rudely interrupted by the sudden appearance of an obstacle in his path, a rather large Charizard blocking off most of the roadway in front of him. It was hardly the first time that he had seen the animal, its patrols above him having been a common sight for his time in Viridian City, but he still held an innate distrust for the massive dragon, not wanting to get within striking distance. Still… It was right outside of the inn, and that was really where he wanted to go right now. With a long suffering sigh, he settled himself against the wall of the Pokémon centre, a few metres away from a black-haired woman that looked about the same age as he was. He didn't bother to introduce himself, instead staring blankly at the wall in front of him, silently hoping that the Charizard would move soon.

* * *

Chris paced back and forth at the edge of Pallet Town. He looked back at it, remembering what it used to be with a foggy memory. Perhaps it never was as amazing as he thought, but he did remember legendary trainers of the past were born there, and he took a moment to reflect on how they were no longer around and how he was.

"Well, Romanov! Are you ready to head back to Viridian? There seems to be no work left here anyway," he called at his Tyranitar who was looking glumly at the Horizon towards where Cinnabar once stood proud in the ocean.

Tyranitar merely looked at him and gave him a nod, then started to walk down Route 1, leaving Chris to catch up with him. Their time together brought them close, but even now there were some uncertainties between them. Chris always had the fear that his best friend would one day attack him, and Romanov had the fear that Chris would become insane and try to kill him. But for the most part they trusted each other, and they loved each other like family.

As they made their way to Viridian City they started to hear movement in the area, and suddenly three large Fearow burst into the sky, and attacked the duo of misfortunate travelers. Chris acted fast and retrieved his pistol, shooting one of the closest of the beasts, but only clipping its wing. It tumbled to the ground, but quickly rose and started to glow with strange light.

Romanov hurriedly took down the biggest and slowest of the group with a powerful stone edge technique, hitting it swiftly over the head and cracking its weak skull open like an egg, then started towards the unharmed Fearow, roaring with a ferocity that was only seen in wild beasts. Meanwhile Chris noticed the clipped Fearow's plot and started towards the beast, drawing his sword and lunging at it, but just as he struck the bird its stored energy was released, knocking Chris high into the air, and his sword into the distance.

He landed about 5 feet away from the bird, injured from the shockwave of the energy, and the Fearow drew close, proud of its victory. Just as it readied the final attack it was struck by Romanov's sharp claws, nearly ripping off its entire head. Blood splashed into the air for a few moments before the bird ceased to bleed.

Chris pulled himself together and rose up to meet the eyes of his friend, and after a few moments of silence Chris hugged Tyranitar gratefully. "I'm getting a little careless..." was all he could say before trailing off to silence. After a few moments of standing there quietly, Chris released his hug and retrieved his blade, sheathed it, and continued to walk towards Viridian. When they got to the small town they walked towards the town Pokémon Centre, and collapsed against the wall, letting out a tired sigh. He didn't break anything in that fight, but he was in a lot of pain. Romanov sat next to him and gave him a caring nudge, showing that he was concerned.

* * *

The smell of blood drew the two Houndoom closer to the road. They slowly stalked closer towards the smell, eyes focused dead ahead. The lead Houndoom's head suddenly snapped up, her body remaining still. She then continued to move closer to the smell, but with more speed and purpose in her movements. Eventually she reached her goal: a dead Houndoom laid on the edge of the road. The Houndoom sniffed the fallen form, sorrow in her eyes. She nudged the fallen Pokémon several times, a vain attempt at reviving her fallen mate.

The female Houndoom slowly raised her head into the air, rage growing in her eyes. Surely her mate's killer was still nearby. She would find the killer and make them pay dearly for what they had done.

The Houndoom released a loud, piercing howl into the air, an eerie sound that would send any smaller Pokémon running, and would cause any smart human who wasn't too close to go the other way. Slowly but surely, one, two, three, four… the number kept rising until a total of ten Houndoom stood by the edge of the road, awaiting their new pack leader's command. The Alpha female sniffed the dead Houndoom once more. She smelled faint traces of human and some sort of grass Pokémon on her mate, but she couldn't be sure - a strong smell of gunpowder had nearly eliminated any other scent. The female raised her head into the air once more, and found what she was looking for: two similar scents were nearby, or at least traceable. With a bark, she took off running further down the road in the direction of the scent, the rest of the pack following her.

* * *

A Tyranitar. And a Charizard. Oh dear. Both of these were beasts that Alex typically wanted to be seeing from a few hundred meters and a few dozen rounds away, at the very least. Being sandwiched between both of them in a narrow street was something that every fiber of his being rebelled against, especially with exactly how often that damned Charizard was glaring at him…

As Alex's comfort faded at the large Poké-Preseneces, Mina's reverie was long since interrupted by the distinct scent of unwashed human. Charizard had perked up as Mina did and stared straight at the men who had just slumped down near them. Unusual; she didn't typically care.

Mina glanced over subtly, noticing Alex's general appearance, his lack of Pokéballs, and his rifle, and concluded that he must be a hunter of some kind. Before the Change, this would have been nearly unthinkable, but now there were a foolhardy few who decided to make that their way of life. She had met a few on her travels, but most of them had at least one Pokémon with them... This guy didn't seem to have any. She had to admit, she was intrigued. Besides, this guy seemed well seasoned. He had to be, else he would have died by now. She didn't bother introducing herself though, for he didn't really seem like the social type.

It was then that she took notice to the other guy that sat down near her as well… _with a full-fledged Tyranitar_. Mina was suitably impressed. Having a Tyranitar after the Change was no small feat, not to mention she had yet to evolve her own Pupitar, and she considered herself a relatively good trainer. She had once been attacked by a Tyranitar out near Mt. Silver, and it had been a really close call for her team, so she was, simply through instinct, slightly concerned. She just hoped its trainer could keep it under control.

Charizard was apparently unconcerned with the huge rock-type Pokémon, still focused on the hunter. In any case, the wall of the Pokémon Center had apparently become the 'it-place' to hang out right now, which disconcerted Mina. She preferred being alone - or rather, alone when it came to people. And Charizard was acting weird, which made her feel even less at ease.

Alex was just beginning to contemplate the most subtle way of climbing over one of the buildings to get out from between the two dragons without actually needing to pass either of them by when, thankfully, the smaller of the pair, seemingly controlled by the woman that he had been sitting next to in silence, prepared to return her pet.

She reached down to her belt and pulled up Charizard's Pokéball. "Alright girl, you should get some rest for now. We have some time before the next patrol, so best be prepared for when that comes around." Charizard stared at Mina, apparently disagreeing. Mina raised her eyebrow and tapped the Pokéball with the index finger of her free hand. Charizard grunted, and was grudgingly withdrawn.

With that, Mina stood, and realized that her Pokémon had apparently been in the way of... well... everything. Whoops. She looked over at the smelly man, who had probably been trying to get somewhere, and opened her mouth to say something, stopping short as she noticed something wrong…

There was a bit of an awkward silence as Mina pondered their disheveled appearances. Why were they covered in blood? Neither of them seemed to be bleeding, so it was likely they got involved in a relatively violent fight with some Pokémon before arriving at the City. Being able to keep their own against those sorts of threats, and having a Tyranitar, allowed her to classify them as good fighters - probably mercenaries. Good to know she wasn't the only one here, in case any fights broke out. Satisfied with this conclusion, she finally apologized, "Sorry about that. I didn't realize she was taking up so much room." She flashed Alex a wide smile, as charming as she could muster. Then, in the hope that she wasn't appearing rude, she turned her smile politely towards Chris, and his Tyranitar too.

Trying to keep the relief off of his face, Alex took that as his own cue to rise up, giving just the slightest nod and grunt to Mina. "'s not a problem." That said, he wasted no time in breezing past her in the direction of the inn, hoping against hope that the Tyranitar wouldn't be following along after him.

As Alex stepped into the Inn, Mina headed for the Pokémon Center, doors closing smoothly behind the both of them and leaving the Tyranitar and Chris alone again.

Mina headed up to the PokéCenter counter and placed her three Pokéballs on it for Nurse Joy to take and heal. Funny, so much had changed, but Nurse Joy was seemingly still a constant. Good thing, too. **That **loss would probably have been too much to handle.

After getting her Pokémon back, Mina had taken a seat on the bench nearest to the corner, released her Espeon so he could keep an eye out, and promptly fallen asleep. She needed to be refreshed for when the night patrols began.

Meanwhile, Alex was all too happy to throw a paltry amount of money down onto the counter and get his key from the innkeeper, picking up the clothes that he had left here last time to be cleaned and sighing inwardly at the degree of stains that still covered them. Still, they wouldn't smell of sweat or fresh kill, and that was really the end goal here, so it would have to do.

Groaning slightly as he entered his room, Alex gently placed his rifle on the bed, cracking his back with a long stretch immediately afterwards. He was used to it, of course, but carrying the steady weight of the weapon for days on end still took its toll on human muscles. His rifle hit the bed with a thud, his clothes following immediately after as a soiled bundle of near rags left in a neat pile on the corner of the bathroom counter. He'd stitch up all of the new rips later that night, then leave them here to be cleaned during the next time he was out in the wild. It was a fairly nice service, actually, and one of the main reasons why he'd been lingering around Viridian City for as long as he had been.

The shower that followed lasted for as long as the hot water did and left Alex feeling more human than he had for the weeks, sighing as he turned it off and stepped back out into his room, the rough fabric of his towel drying him off within a few moments. He still smelled of earth and dirt, the slight iron of blood, the gentle scent of moss and grass… But it was subtler now, less unwashed and more earthen, the stink of his own exhaustion having been swept away by the water as it flowed over him. A few hours later, he walked out of the inn again a new man, rifle freshly cleaned and oiled, his old clothes left behind to be ready for his next visit. Better still, there didn't seem to be any Pokémon on the street bigger than a trained Ratatta... Shrugging to himself, Alex walked off. Might as well get some proper food while he was in a place where it could be cooked, right?

In the interim, Chris watched Mina and Alex leave with an almost need to get away from him and his Tyranitar quick and easy. Chris figured he should be offended, but decided against it. Instead he took a moment to settle on his next moves.

It was probably a good idea to follow the Charizard's trainer into the Pokémon Center, both to get Romanov cleaned up and to see if he could use some of their water to clean his armor…or what was left of it, anyway. When he was pushed back by that Fearow's Sky Attack it cracked down the arm and he needed to repair it as soon as possible.

With that, he rose up with a grunt. His side hurt, but he ignored the pain and entered the building, Romanov trailing behind him quietly and going with Nurse Joy as Chris left to wash off the blood of his latest foe, and repair his armor with whatever he had left to use. It took him about an hour to take a small shower and complete the cleanup of his armor, but when he returned he was greeted by his dear friend, Tyranitar, waiting for him.

"So, I guess we should go guard the town for a while huh?" he said, an almost happy tone in his voice. The reason he was so quick to go back out there was because he didn't trust people much anymore. Ever since he was little and left for dead at Mt. Silver he had this aura of distrust towards humans, almost a fear. But he learned to care for the citizens of the settlements; most of them were kind people that had protected him many times before.

Chris and Romanov left the tattered building and walked towards the Indigo Plateau, stopping right at the end of the route there. Then he sat down and started to set up camp just as a group of Pokémon started to head towards Viridian. To Chris's relief they scurried off at the sight of Romanov. Chris and the Tyranitar both shared a laugh at that, then continued to set up camp. When they were finished they both decided it was a good time to eat. Chris retrieved from his pack a can of dehydrated fruit, and Romanov grabbed a clump of soil and started to eat it. They both enjoyed their meal, and Chris thought to himself how he was so lucky to have had a Pokémon that eats rocks for nutrition.

About half way through the meal there was movement in the distance, and suddenly a pack of Growlithe, led by an Arcanine, pounced out and attacked. Romanov seemed to expect the attack and threw a rather large share of rocks at the Arcanine with deadly accuracy, striking him in the eye and momentarily blinding him.

Chris was the next to attack. He climbed on top of his comrade and shot the Growlithe one by one using Romanov's rock body as a shield from the beast's fire attacks. This was a normal strategy between the two. Since fire type Pokémon had an exponential growth in the population, Chris and Romanov had to think of ways to protect each other, this being one of the easiest.

But the feral creatures also had a strategy. The Growlithe that managed to avoid the gunshots fired by Chris circled around the duo, and tried to flank Romanov with a group ember attack, successfully hitting Romanov. Rather than weakening him it merely enraged him, and he let loose an Earthquake attack. The ground shook wildly and many of the Growlithe were buried alive; some fled for their lives, leaving the Alpha-male Arcanine left. The air went silent, and all you could hear was the tired panting from Chris and Romanov. Some sounds of confusion were starting to echo from Viridian City, and Chris knew they had to defeat this Pokémon before any brave citizens decided to investigate.

There was a few moments of nothing, then both Pokémon charged at each other, Chris still clinging to Romanov's back. Chris could feel his friend's heartbeat grow faster with adrenaline just as easily as he could feel the heat of the Arcanine's breath. Itching to finish this, Chris jumped off his friend's back and unsheathed his blade, charging towards the feral beast that threatened his partner's safety. Chris's blade crashed into the neck of the distracted creature, and it cut through the animal's spine, leaving the Arcanine to flop against the ground, unable to move. Romanov gave it the mercy of death, crashing into it with a Stone Edge attack.

Once the excitement of battle ceased, the duo looked at each other and simply nodded. Chris rummaged through his pack and retrieved a Full Restore, one of the last of its kind in all of Kanto, and sprayed it on his Rock Pokémon's wounds. Within a few moments Romanov felt much better and nudged Chris in thanks with a gentle growl coming from his friend's throat in reply.

Chris worried about what happened in Viridian when Romanov let loose the Earthquake, because he knew that Tyranitars had the capability to move entire mountains. The attack wasn't nearly that powerful, but it could have damaged some of the buildings there regardless. So despite his prior plans to stay at his simple campsite a little longer, he began to head back towards Viridian City to investigate, and clean up the mess if he had to.

* * *

"Hey, kid!"

Haru jumped as Doug's voice finally pulled him out of his trance. He hadn't noticed that they had finally arrived at Viridian City.

"You gonna be alright from here?" Doug asked.

"Uh...yeah. Thanks," Haru said, "I owe you-"

"No, you don't," Doug interrupted, "I told you I'd take you here for free. You just be sure to watch yourself out there," he said, and with a final wave, he turned and walked away.

Haru stared after Doug for awhile. That sort of kindness was not common these days. Most people tended to be more focused on themselves than others.

"Nice guy," Haru said as he turned to his Meganium. His partner, though a Grass Pokémon, was pretty resilient, and could handle long trips through the wastes. However, he was still a Grass type, and still needed frequent rests. Even now, although he tried to look otherwise, Haru could tell that Meganium was tired.

"Here, I'll take you to the Pokémon Center," Haru said, reaching inside his red jacket and pulling out a Pokéball. Meganium frowned at it - he didn't like being inside his Pokéball to begin with, but he was tired, and as such obediently withdrew inside it. A frown mirroring Magnium's crawled across Haru's face as he placed the ball back inside his jacket. As strong as Meganium was, Haru knew the environment was seriously hurting him. Ever since the Change, Haru had been prepared for the day that Meganium would suddenly succumb and die...but these thoughts did little to help Meganium now. Without another thought, Haru proceeded towards the Pokémon Center.

It didn't take him long to reach the Center, and he immediately made his way to the counter. Nurse Joy was nowhere to be found, but that wasn't a problem for Haru - he could wait.

Mina, still napping, was suddenly awakened by Espeon - too soon, in her opinion - but before she could ask why she was jolted fully awake by a tremor. Haru tripped at the unexpected earthquake, causing him to slam his head into the counter and Meganium's Pokéball to drop to the ground.

Mina, on the other hand, had experience with flying and therefore had an excellent sense of balance that kept her from falling. Instead, she jumped up, her hand instinctively going to the pistol at her hip, as the room swayed and objects fell off shelves. Through the chaos, new chaos unfoled, namely a Pokéball bursting open and revealing a Meganium. Amidst the panic, no one noticed a man in a long overcoat exit the Pokémon Center.

The instant he was out, Meganium was by Haru's side, his own weakness forgotten and a concerned expression on his face. The blow had caused Haru to fall unconscious.

With the fuss dying down, Mina took a moment to take in the sight of the room. The tremor had caught everyone off guard - apart from Espeon, apparently – and there were two new additions to the scenery. First, Mina patted Espeon affectionately on the head as a sign of gratitude. Then she paid more attention to the two new guests: a Meganium, standing protectively over a man who was sprawled unceremoniously on the floor.

Mina dashed over, but slowed to a halt once she saw how protective the Meganium was. She took a moment to appreciate the fact that this was an actual Meganium - a legitimate, fully evolved, non-Kanto grass-type, standing right in front of her - before holding up her hands to signify she didn't want to be aggressive, and said "Hold on, relax. I want to help him." The Meganium didn't budge, and barely even looked at her. Its eyes were still fixed on the man who Mina assumed was its trainer. Fair enough - she was willing to bet her Pokémon would act the same way if she was in a similar situation. Nurse Joy was nowhere to be seen, however. Mina jumped over the counter and checked the back room. Stuff had fallen off the shelves, but the Nurse wasn't around. She had probably taken her dinner break or something - shitty timing at its best. Not to mention, who leaves a Pokémon Center unattended? What poor form.

Mina was torn - she really wanted to check and see what had caused the earthquake - it had to be a Pokémon, and if it was a threat and she didn't do something about it she would be failing at her job. Still, she couldn't just leave someone sprawled on the floor in an unattended PokeCentre, which would be just plain unkind. What if he was hurt? She debated this with herself until she arrived at a suitable compromise.

She began to search through the back room, and she quickly found what she was looking for: an ice pack. She also grabbed some herbal medicine for good measure, since the Meganium had looked tired too. Mina exited the back room, and went back over to the unconscious man. Looking straight at the Meganium, she spoke, "Listen. You want to take care of him? That's fine. Here, here's an ice pack. He was hit on the head, right? This will stop the bruising. You can put this on his forehead if you'd rather do it yourself." She put the ice pack on the counter. "I found some heal powder back there as well. You can eat it if you want. I know, it tastes disgusting, but it's here if you want it." She placed the pouch on the counter, next to the ice pack, and undid the knot so the Meganium could get to it easily if it so chose. She began to turn away, before adding, "You might want to elevate his legs, too. It'll make him come-to faster."

Mina then turned to her Espeon. It was times like these she was especially thankful for having a psychic Pokémon. Still, whenever she asked him to do a "reading," the phrasing of the question always mattered more than anything, so she mulled it over before speaking. "Espeon - does the cause of this earthquake warrant a patrol?" His fur bristled, the gem on his forehead glowed, and his tail twitched - _No_. Alright, that settled that.

She had learned some first-aid, including Pokémon first aid, on her travels, so even though she was anxious to make sure the City was alright, Mina decided that her services would be most useful if she stayed at the Center, at least until Nurse Joy came back. Then, she would leave. Just as she finished that thought, a kid came in through the doors, holding an injured Ratatta. She went back into the back room, and emerged holding more herbal medicine and bandages, and began taking care of the kid's pet.

_**Route 2**_

The ground caused the charging Raticate to stumble, a screech of frustration escaping it. It's opponent, an Arcanine, seized this opportunity and, with a single leap, crossed the distance between them and had pinned down its enemy.

The Arcanine's Trainer, a tall blonde man also wearing a long black overcoat stood watching the battle, the shaking ground giving him even less pause than his partner. He silently watched the battle, not even bothering to give orders to Arcanine - he didn't need to.

He sighed as a sudden ringing sound filled the air, barely able to be heard over the two fighting Pokémon. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a PokéGear, opening it without even bothering to check the caller ID.

"What?" he asked, his voice a combination of boredom and irritation.

If the person on the other end noticed, they didn't let it show. "Sir, we've found him."

This grabbed the man's attention. "You're sure?"

"Positive. He matches the description, and he appears to have no other Pokémon other than a Meganium."

"Where?"

"Viridian Pokémon Center, sir."

"Good. I'm currently on Route 2 - I will be there shortly. Do what you can to keep him near there." the man said, and then hung up before he could get a reply.

The man frowned, noticing that his Arcanine still had the Raticate pinned down.

"What are you waiting for, Arcanine? You know better than to play with your food...although you won't be able to eat it now."

The Raticate took no heed to the Trainer's words. It's red eyes were focused only on Arcanine...if only it could move its head ever so slightly-

Arcanine lunged before the Raticate could finish forming its plan.

A strong breeze blew through the area at that time, causing the man's overcoat to blow in the wind, briefly revealing a black uniform with a large red 'R' in the middle.

_**Viridian City**_

Occam's Razor, a hunting rifle and a healthy sense of paranoia were a very dangerous combination in the best of people, at the best of times. Alex was not the best of people, and the wake of an earthquake was certainly not the best of times. Even though the level of damage to the people, thankfully, appeared fairly minimal, there were more than a few smaller Pokémon passed out and bleeding by the side of the road, bricks still raining from slowly dying buildings. The Pokémon, it was hard for Alex to really care less about. The buildings were a different story… More than one looked as though it would need to be completely torn down before it would be safe to inhabit again, others looked ready to crumble under their own weight at any moment. In any case, it was obvious that there would be more than a few people sleeping out on the street tonight, at least if they valued their safety. It was a struggle to ignore these sights as he walked, deftly making his way through crashed bikes and bits of debris, a half crushed Pidgey staining one of his shoes red as he passed it…

But, Alex knew that these were all small things. He didn't have enough supplies to be a medic. He didn't have enough skill to work on propping up a new shelter designed for the recently displaced. He wasn't loud enough or persuasive enough to organize the chaos into something productive. All that he knew was that Viridian was not a fault-line. There was no obvious reason for an earthquake to occur, except, perhaps, at the command of a Pokémon. There was just one problem with that assessment, however… None of the wild Pokémon that lurked in the woods that surrounded the city were strong enough to cause something like this. In fact, the only thing that he had seen recently that could have been the cause of this was a certain Tyranitar... What were the odds that one of those shows up in town within the same day that an earthquake occurs?

Well, not really terrible, if Alex was being honest, but nobody had ever accused him of laziness, and he really didn't have any other ideas at the moment. There was the possibility that it had caused this, either at the command of its trainer, or of its own free will. It would hardly be the first time that a powerful monster had snapped, after all. If it had, then it would be a danger to not only him, but the rest of the city as well. A grimace on his face, Alex hefted the rifle on his shoulder, heading over to the PokéCentre that he had seen the pair at earlier. Downside of having such a big Pokémon was that it made you absurdly easy to track; the foot-claws of the beast scoring the concrete paths as it walked were deep enough for the hunter to follow despite the damage from the recent disaster.

There was just one thing that slowed him from moving out, a figure caught in the corner of his eye through the PokéCenter door. The girl from earlier. The one with a Charizard. As much as Alex hated to admit it to himself, a Tyranitar would be difficult to take down with zero prep-time and nothing more than a rifle, especially if it turned out that the incident was intentional and he had to contend with the trainer as well. Swallowing his pride, he made his way into the centre, approaching the woman warily.

Mina was caught off-guard. Who was this guy? Then, Mina remembered - the pungent man. He wasn't pungent anymore, though.

He spoke without introduction. "We both saw a Tyranitar earlier today. It's the only thing that I can think of that might be able to cause something like this around these parts. Probably nothing, but I want to be sure in case it feels like coming back or doing this again. A Charizard would be helpful in making sure that things worked out well for this town, if you aren't too busy saving the rats."

Mina had taken note of Alex's slightly condescending tone, but let it slide. She listened to what he had to say, before replying, "I hadn't considered the cause of this in detail, but what you're saying makes sense. It most likely was the Tyranitar." Mina studied him - he certainly looked determined. It was unlikely that he would listen if she told him what her Espeon had said, but she did so anyway. "And you're right again, it's probably nothing. This Espeon here is mine, too. Psychic types are good at... Well... Generally knowing what's up." She smiled, trying to be convincing. "He doesn't think this is anything to be worried about, either. Be that as it may, while I am happy to take this Pokémon's word..." A pause, this man was obviously able to hunt down threatening Pokémon, apparently through his own skills and without using any Pokémon himself. Then, Mina remembered how Charizard had acted around him - and glancing down at Espeon; Espeon was staring, too. She continued, "I'm not sure if you would."

Just then, Nurse Joy re-entered the Center with a few people following behind, sporting their own injuries, or holding injured Pokémon. Mina was relieved - she felt a sense of duty in staying and taking care of the wounded, but now that the Nurse was back there was apparently no need to do so. She glanced over at the person who was passed out on the floor - still no sign of them regaining consciousness. Despite the worry tugging at her chest, now that Nurse Joy was back at the Center, Mina wasn't obligated to stay.

"I'm curious to see what happened too, though. And now that she's back," she gestured at Nurse Joy, "it's not necessary for me to stay and... Take care of the rats." Another pause. "Sure, I'll go with you. Although, honestly, I'm not sure a fight will be necessary. Let's get going." She then realized that he had asked her this without introducing himself - then again, she hadn't introduced herself yet, either. "Oh - we should get this out of the way first. My name's Mina. What should I call you?" She extended her right hand out for a handshake. A slightly outdated gesture, perhaps, but it was a habit from her travelling days she kept and was apparently unable to let go.

"Alex." He said simply, shaking her hand once before letting it go and heading out the door, Mina following behind.

Haru awoke to find himself lying on the floor, Meganium resting at his feet - in fact, his legs were resting on Meganium. He slowly reached up and lightly touched his forehead, finding an ice pack. He assumed Meganium had placed it on him, because there was no way Meganium would let anyone near Haru while he was injured.

There was a low, concerned cry, and Meganium finally moved to allow Haru to slowly rise, removing the ice pack as he went.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Haru said to Meganium. That wasn't entirely true - his head was still throbbing, though that wasn't a big deal. "But what about you? You're supposed to be in your Pokéball?" Haru asked reproachfully.

Meganium simply frowned and stared at Haru.

"I guess I should've known better," Haru said with a sigh. If there was any chance of Haru being in danger, there was no way Meganium would stay in his Pokéball. However, Haru was curious as to how Meganium had obtained an ice pack, since Meganium certainly wouldn't leave Haru unattended. Haru also noticed that Meganium didn't look quite so pale, and it was then that he noticed an empty pouch lying nearby. The only possible explanation was that someone had given these to Meganium, but that in itself was odd - Meganium was not a very trusting Pokémon...

Nevertheless, these petty details weren't important right now. What was important was finding out what had caused that quake. Judging by its strength and how suddenly it had hit, it had to have been a Pokémon, which was worth checking out. If it did turn out to be a Pokémon, it had to be stopped.

"You think you're up for another fight?" Haru asked Meganium.

Meganium responded with a confident nod.

With that, the two headed towards the door of the Pokémon Center, only to be blocked by the side of Alex's rifle a moment later. There was a small, wan, smile on the man's face as he looked down towards the pair, Mina standing at his back. "Much better to travel in a group, don't you think? Besides, we've got a pretty good lead on where the Pokémon that might have done this went." Why he decided to stop the younger man, Alex wasn't sure. Perhaps it was that letting him wander on his own without any clues felt needlessly cruel. Perhaps it was just that more firepower was never a bad thing. Perhaps it was that having a group bigger than just two meant that they could technically be a posse, and despite the presence of the Pokémon, a posse going out to track down the wild beast appealed to Alex on a very primitive level. So much so that it was, in fact, hard to not let the flashbacks to the western shows of his childhood take over as he walked out of the centre, kneeling for just a moment, pointing to the tracks.

From there, the walk out of town was fairly simple, even with the debris that covered the roads. Tyranitar tracks, once you knew what they were and what direction they indicated, were so obvious that it could be done with a minimal amount of effort.

Little did he know Mina was on a similar train of thought: After the conscription of Haru and his Meganium, Mina couldn't help but think they seemed like a proper gang now. She was unaccustomed to travelling with others, and while this had been a comparatively short journey, she concluded that it wasn't really that bad. Neither of her current companions had been particularly talkative, but that was fine by her.

Haru wasn't sure what exactly made him agree to join the other two. In fact, he was sure that he actually _hadn't_ agreed to anything. It was more like they sort of walked out of the Pokémon Center and he started walking in the same direction as them. It also occurred to him that he didn't even know their names yet.

Names or not, Haru couldn't help but think that was odd, traveling with other people - people who were willing to travel with others for reasons other than money were rare these days. But upon further reflection, Haru was glad to have the help. Sure, Meganium had a type advantage, but the truth was that Meganium wasn't as strong as he once was. Tyranitars were a force to be reckoned with, and even if by some miracle Meganium managed to down it, it was likely that Meganium would go down with it without any help…That was, of course, assuming it was a hostile Tyranitar in the first place.

Before long, the trio was standing near the Indigo Plateau, the camp of the person they were looking for being all too obvious against the horizon. "Well… That looks like as good a place to start as any." Alex muttered, stopping them before they walked into what could be dangerous territory without a plan. Un-slinging the rifle from over his shoulder, Alex gestured to a copse of trees off to the side. "As nice as it is to be working with…" He tried to refrain from the term beasts, "Pokémon, I'm not the type to do well in close quarters combat. I'll get myself a perch over there and give you cover." Reaching into his pocket, he pressed a clean handkerchief into Mina's hand. "If you want me to shoot, drop it. If you want me to come down, wave it."

"A handkerchief? How old-fashioned." Mina quietly thought aloud, taking it regardless.

Noting that they all seemed to be in agreement, Alex took a few steps towards his hiding place before turning back around and looking to the pair. "Of course, we could always just kill it now and worry about guilt after the fact, eh?"

Haru gave the man a grave look at his suggestion. Alex's last comment caught Mina off guard as well, but before she could reply Alex had already disappeared among the trees, so she just sighed loudly instead.

"Come on, let's get this over with," Mina said as Alex walked away. Haru nodded, mentally deciding to let her do the talking, and followed her, Meganium tensing in case a fight broke out. After looking the Tyranitar and its Trainer over, Haru noticed that they seemed to be wounded, and didn't appear openly hostile. A quick glance at Meganium told Haru that he thought the same. Meganium was still braced for combat, but his expression was more at ease, almost perplexed; the two of them had learned several times that things were not always as they seemed. That thought made Haru turn his gaze towards Mount Silver, off in the distance. They had indeed learned that the hard way...

Haru shook his head. Now wasn't the time for flashbacks – this wasn't Naruto, after all. He had to focus.

It seemed like the guy with the Tyranitar was actually walking towards them - simply due to its size, the Rock Pokémon was difficult to miss. Mina wanted to avoid conflict, especially considering her Espeon had made it seem like this was nothing to be concerned about, but her paranoia won over, so she withdrew Espeon and released her Charizard. Tyranitars were very strong Pokémon - and part Dark, too. Espeon wouldn't really stand a chance. Charizard stretched out its wings, glanced at the Meganium, and turned to look at the two figures approaching them.

"Come on," Mina said to Haru, "let's just get this done." The team walked over to the pair who was slowly making their way down the path - apparently back to Viridian.

Chris shambled back to Viridian City. His armor was tattered and his skin was burnt, a sense of anger at himself for being unprepared pulsed through his body and he clenched his fist with disgust. Other than his fist opening and closing he looked relatively calm, but deep down he was worried. Worried for all the citizens of the town of Viridian. He knew that the hunters would suspect Romanov went wild, but in reality he was just protecting his trainer.

Chris could see the trainers in the distance, and he could feel his Tyranitar tense up, it too knew that he was in danger, and it was worried that Chris would also be killed for what it has done. Chris sensed his friend's fear and retrieved his Pokéball, something he hasn't used in weeks. He then continued down the route towards Viridian, trying to get there quickly but his legs didn't want to cooperate with him.

Chris inched his way forward, he was cautious of his possible foes ahead of him. _Did they think that he was hostile?_ Chris moved his hand to his hip, right over his katana, he wasn't threatening, but he wanted to be ready for an unexpected attack from fellow mercenaries. He noted several different ways around the curious people, but chose to push through, if there would be confrontation he could handle it, he was known as one of the most impressive of the mercenaries in eastern Kanto for a good reason, and it wasn't just his Tyranitar.

Mina kept her distance, in case the Tyranitar was indeed hostile, but after piecing together how odd it would be that a feral Tyranitar would have a living trainer walking along side it, she doubted the situation was worthy of even that much concern. In truth, it was mostly just caution keeping her distant from the pair. "Hey!" she shouted, to get their attention. "I remember you - from Viridian. Did you, uh," how to phrase this delicately? "You were the ones to cause that right? The earthquake, I mean. Mind explaining yourselves?" As soon as she finished, she noticed that the man actually seemed to be in pretty bad shape. The Tyranitar just looked extremely wary, probably the mirror image of herself. Mina's first instinct was to offer help, but she disregarded that, as it would be best to make sure there was no imminent danger from either of them first.

As Chris approached, he first walked up to Haru and his Meganium, greeting them with a nod, then went into his pack and retrieved a small canteen of water. Chris **sipped** it to show it wasn't poisoned, then offered it to the grass Pokémon. Meganium seemed tired from the heat, and Chris was almost completely sure it needed a drink. Chris wasn't necessarily suspicious or the like, but he never let his guard down. While one hand was offering the drink, his other was still hovering above the sheath of his blade, a finger twitching every few moments in anticipation.

Haru hesitated when Chris offered Meganium water, but another glance at Meganium convinced Haru to trust the man. Meganium seemed to trust him, and Meganium hadn't really had a chance to recuperate before they set out again; a drink was welcomed.

As they looked him over, Chris looked at the mercenaries, his eyes cold and narrow. "We were ambushed by a pack of Growlithe led by an Arcanine," the mercenary explained as Haru took the canteen and poured water into Meganium's mouth, which Meganium seemed to appreciate.

Mina just listened with a nod, thinking to herself, _Attacked by fire types - that would explain the poor state of his clothes._

"If you wish to see the beast I left its corpse just over by the Indigo Plateau's entrance. The earthquake was caused by Romanov, my Tyranitar, as a tactic to eliminate several of the beasts. It worked to say the least, but I apologize for the town."

Mina smiled, glad to hear this. They weren't guilty of anything and it was just one, huge, cautious misunderstanding. Just as Mina had thought, and just as Espeon had predicted. Now she just had to let Alex know. _Was it wave or drop for "don't shoot?" Wave, definitely wave._ With that mental contemplation, she unclenched her fist and waved the handkerchief Alex had given her, signaling that all was clear.

Chris raised an eyebrow at Mina's strange action, but in today's world strange was becoming the new normal. So rather than question her, Chris merely let her be and continued conversing with Haru. "Were there any seriously injured?"

Haru's head throbbed at the word "injured" but he let it go and thought about what he'd observed on their way to Route 22 for a moment: the town had actually managed well despite the tremor being unexpected. The worst of it were simple wounds to the smaller Pokémon of Viridian that were being fixed by Nurse Joy as they spoke, the buildings had always been pretty worse for wear since The Change, and Haru was back up and running. "Not seriously, no," Haru said, handing the canteen back to the mercenary with a nod of thanks. Mina never corrected him – Haru had summed it up well enough.

Haru started to say something else when a sound caught his ear: a bloodcurdling howl. Then he saw it; a pack of Houndoom, at least nine, was heading straight at the group. Mina's Charizard clearly noticed it as well and let out a loud roar just before Haru managed to see the lone Houndoom as it got behind Chris, preparing to launch itself onto him.

"Meganium!" Haru hollered, his eyes widening. But Haru didn't have to say anything - Meganium was already moving. Meganium launched himself forward, catching the Houndoom mid-leap with a Body Slam. The Houndoom was thrown backwards, yelping as it hit the ground. It attempted to get up, but found that it couldn't - it had been paralyzed. "We've got company, guys!" Haru yelled.

"Alright, let's go!" Mina shouted, already thinking about how they should tackle the situation. Fire attacks wouldn't work with Houndoom, they would sometimes even be completely unaffected, and the flames might even spread to Viridian which would just be horrendous. In other words, Mina's typical strategy of razing everything to the ground with flames was out of the picture. Charizard knew this, and had already lunged at the charging hounds using Iron Tail, and knocked one back and into another, breaking the attacker's formation as the Pokémon dodged out of the dragon's way. Mina released Pupitar without delay, knowing it would at the very least give them a type advantage. Pupitar promptly used Dig, bursting out underneath a Houndoom near the back, knocking it out.

"Charizard! Slash!", Mina cried out, and her Pokémon delivered, knocking another Houndoom back into the bushes with a critical hit. So far, so good. Mina then un-holstered the pistol at her hip, to ensure that if any of the dogs broke through, she would be prepared.

At this point a thought seemed to simultaneously flow through both Haru and Mina's minds – _where was Alex?_

It always surprised Alex that, despite the shape of the world, people still clung to Pokémon in the way that they did. The hunters, the mercenaries, the fighters, the guards… Nearly all of them still used the animals. In fact, Alex had yet to actually meet another person that fought without any, and he had lost count of exactly how many times people had expressed shock at the fact that he didn't. In truth, it really wasn't that hard. All that you needed was three very simple things, good aim, boundless patience and the willingness to cheat in every single way that the world presented, the moment that the opportunity became available. The first two could be learned. The last? Well, that was something that you needed to be born with. Alex felt that he had it in spades.

The problem with most was that the majority looked at things in far too simple a way, Pokémon trainers especially. Everything was a battle to them. Pokémon and trainer facing off against an opponent. A contest of strength and speed. The very rare ones would use an underhanded tactic, a trap or a feint, a trick or a low blow, but even then, it was still a fight. It was still a contest. They didn't seem to realize that the best place to be in a fight was as far away from your enemy as possible. A bullet in the back of the skull won the fight as decisively as any flashy move. If it didn't, you aimed for the legs, the soft spots, you crippled the beast and took advantage of that fact. You harried it. You blinded it. You made sure that whenever it got to where you were, you were already a hundred yards away with a bead on it and a full magazine. There were no rules, no glory… You took every advantage possible. That was how you survived. That was how you wound up putting down something three times your size with the ability to breathe fire and break mountains.

It was this mentality that would help to explain why Alex did what he did, as the meeting was so abruptly broken up. The fact that the Tyranitar was "innocent" was rather grating. If Alex had destroyed most of a town, even if in self-defense, he would have been strung up.

But that was beside the point, for the moment. In truth, he had barely been watching the exchange… Something else had caught his eye. A man. Not one of the impromptu little groups that they had made up. Not moving to support the flashy idiot with the katana. Just… Watching. Blonde. Dressed dark. There was nothing good about watching like that. Alex's finger tightened on the trigger. Surely a shot to the shin was justified?

Unfortunately, that was when the Houndoom sprinted from their cover and all hell broke loose, the mysterious blond disappearing into the fray. Letting out a particularly colorful epithet under his breath, Alex shifted on the tree-branch that he perched on, bringing his aim back to the fight that now embroiled those that he had brought out here. A pack of any Pokémon was not a good thing, Houndoom being a particularly nasty variety. Normally, this was not the sort of situation that Alex would get involved in. But he had brought two of those people out here. His sense of morals wouldn't let him just abandon them to their fates, not when they were brought about by his hand.

So, what was a sniper to do? The dogs were fast and slim, heads bobbing as they ran and lunged erratically. Taking a shot on one of them would have been a difficult thing, even if he didn't have to worry about friendly fire. Much better to go for the flank, take the easier shot and let the powerhouse Pokémon dispatch the wounded. Shots echoed out, a full clip fired in support as the rounds tore through the soft meat of the dog Pokémons' hindquarters. It was only after he had hastily jammed another clip into the rifle that he saw a godsend. A cheat. Three little Houndour, staying back, away from the fight, well covered from the combat in front of them, but not from the unexpected sniper. They were still; it was an easy shot, and two of the trio fell as the percussive 'crack' of a rifle echoed across the plateau once again. The third, he left alive. If all of them were dead, there would be nothing left to lose. One child left meant that there was something that needed protection. Something to drag their attention away from the fight, to make them want to run, to distract them… Settling his sights back onto the main brawl, Alex could only hope that it worked.

Chris took a step back and drew his katana. The air was hot and he was thankful that the Meganium worked fast and saved him but there was no time for thanking his Poké-knight in shining armor, not now. The entire area was a war zone within seconds. He couldn't count the amount of beasts there were, but there were many. The loud crack of sniper fire was in the distance but even then it hurt his sensitive ears. He chose not to let Romanov enter this fight, he was worried he would do more damage to the area then good.

_The best way to fight these beasts was probably hand to hand, the village is already falling apart._ Chris thought as he quickly sidestepped a lunging Houndoom, and with one quick elegant slash of his sword the beast was split in two. Following up after his first attack he spun, cutting a nearby Houndoom's snapping jaw clean off. The beast wailed in pain but didn't stop, fire erupted from its permanently gaping mouth in attempt to burn its enemy. Chris saw what was happening and rolled away, but when he did so he was hit by another one of the beasts' will-o-wisp attacks, burning his exposed left arm. Chris cried out in pain, but the burn didn't stop him from retaliating. He sliced the air under the Houndoom which made the fire Pokémon jump to avoid the attack, sadly, that put him in Chris's trap. He then had his blade follow the dog and with deadly precision pushed it through the animal's chest, killing it near instantly. Chris panted with exertion, and then pushed the dog's body off his blade.

That was only one part of the battle, however, and several more things needed to be done before it was over. Shot after shot was fired from Alex's gun, Houndoom after Houndoom leaping into action attempting to kill anyone involved in the battle that wasn't one of their own, and body after body falling limp to the ground in failure to accomplish their goal. This battle to the death may have appeared in the Houndoom's favor at first, but numbers didn't trump power, and the battle seemed almost one sided as the trainers took down the pack slowly but surely over time.

Mina hated it when battles went on for longer than they should have, and this had definitely out-lasted its welcome. There were still about five adult Houndoom left, so Mina took it upon herself to finish them off. "Charizard- use Brick Break! Pupitar- Crunch!" Mina shouted out instructions to her Pokémon. She knew from experience that Houndoom didn't have a strong defense, so a flurry of physical attacks should take them down. Charizard complied, and broke one Pokémon's spine, while Pupitar nearly took another's head off. She heard shots being fired, and assumed it was Alex from his tree, but from where she was standing she couldn't see if anything had fallen. Confused, she looked closer. Some blood splattered from a nearby Houndoom's thigh. Alex was obviously trying to weaken them now. Good enough.

Chris scanned the area. His new allies were doing a lot better than he was at the moment; none of them were injured and for the most part they were doing the greater part of the damage. He considered himself lucky that he wasn't alone when these animals ambushed, because if they did he knew he wouldn't have survived the encounter, not without potentially destroying Viridian even more anyhow.

As he was looking at the battle unfolding he saw in the distance the spark of a rifle firing. Chris noted where the sniper was, and to his shock he also saw another figure. Unable to discern what, or rather who it was, he shrugged it off. Regardless it bothered him that somebody would witness all this yet do nothing to help.

Chris's thoughts were cut off quickly as another Houndoom came from nowhere and tackled him. They rolled across the field, each exchanging hectic attacks, the dog snapping at Chris's throat and Chris trying to push the beast off. His katana was dropped when he was struck and had no way to draw his pistol. Chris fought the beast with all that he had, but to his noted dismay he was losing. If he didn't do something soon he would be beaten down and killed – he had to act fast.

As Chris gazed into the angry dog Pokémon's orbs, strength suddenly flowed into him, and the thoughts of death evaporated into nothing. He did all he could think of in that moment: Chris bit the dog back. Confusion, surprise, and fear appeared in the dog's red eyes, so much so that it was almost comical to Chris, but he had no time to spare. Using the confusion to his advantage, Chris moved his hand to his gun and quickly brought it to the left of the Houndoom. Chris smiled a sadistic smile and pulled the trigger. The gun didn't make much noise, but the anguished yelp of the Houndoom did, which was followed by the soft noise of the dog going limp.

Chris pushed the beast off and sprinted towards the Katana, shouting a warning to Haru: "Watch out!" Chris then slid in front of the grass Pokémon and attacked a Houndoom that was about to release a powerful fire attack from a blind spot to the duo's focus. With a "_FWIP!_" noise the beast was dead, and in response Chris sheathed his blade. He was tired, almost unable to fight anymore... **_Almost_**.

From there, Meganium managed to fend off a few of the Houndoom attackers, trying not to fatally wound any of them unless it became absolutely necessary - he and Haru hoped to be able to chase them off. It became increasingly clear, however, that this would not be possible - despite Meganium responding to each attack with an equally brutal counter, the Houndoom continued their relentless assault, showing no signs of letting up, not yet.

_Shit, I left my guard down._ Mina thought as a Houndoom charged at her, its back legs bleeding as it prepared to use Crunch. Unfortunately for the Houndoom, Mina had her pistol ready before the Houndoom even had the opportunity to use its attack. Before she was hurt or worse, Mina rapidly aimed and shot twice. The first one missed its mark, hitting the dog's front leg instead, but the second flew straight in between the dog's eyes, and it was dead before it hit the ground. Charizard roared, and Mina looked around. There were a few Houndoom still alive, but they had all clustered near where they had charged from, and apparently weren't as keen to attack anymore... And a Houndour? She hadn't even seen that one there before... They definitely didn't pose as big a threat, but there were two dead ones lying by their brother's feet. One Houndoom was sniffing at the bodies of the pups, while another one looked up at them and growled, obviously trying to be protective. Mina couldn't help but think this was somehow sad…or she would have, if they hadn't just been attacked. At least now they all seemed clustered in the same area and weren't running around anymore.

Haru watched as they formed a protective circle around what at first seemed to be a single small Houndour. Upon further examination, however, Haru noticed two other bodies lying next to the standing one...the only living Houndour. This thought sickened Haru - this is what the world had come too: killing children in order to win fights.

Haru was so busy watching the Houndoom that he very nearly lost his life for a second time since the Houndoom attacked. Haru had been standing in front of the paralyzed Houndoom from before. The Pokémon had begun to feel the effects wearing off, and realized it was now able to move its head. Without another thought, it snapped its head up and unleashed a Flamethrower in Haru's direction.

Haru felt the sudden heat of the coming attack and just managed to throw himself to the ground in time to avoid being burnt to a crisp. He didn't see what happened next, but he certainly heard it. Meganium let out a cry - not one that a person would normally hear from a Meganium, but one of an enraged Meganium, one that would make anyone or anything get out of its way. The flames suddenly stopped, and it was immediately followed with a sickening _CRUNCH_!

Haru didn't dare look - he didn't want to see the Houndoom after Meganium had stomped its head into the ground, crushing its' skull; he could picture it well enough.

"Thanks..." Haru said to Meganium, looking around the battlefield. All of the Houndoom appeared to be dead, aside from the two now protecting the Houndour. He noticed that one was now staring at him, and that pretty much told Haru why they had attacked the group. Houndoom were predators, yes, and they wouldn't hesitate to eat one of their own - unless it was the pack leader, and its mate still lived. That would automatically send the pack off on a hunt for revenge. The Houndoom that he and Meganium had run into earlier had obviously been the pack leader, and its mate had caught their scent on the dead Pokémon's body. The attack seemed to be a bit sudden, though. Haru could only assume it was because one had disobeyed the female and charged ahead anyway, leading to...this.

Haru had a feeling he would have to fight it; it would keep coming after him until it died or it killed him and Meganium. However, that didn't happen… the other Houndoom suddenly barked, its attention now on some nearby trees - exactly where Alex was. There wasn't time for any sort of warning before the two unleashed Flamethrowers at the trees, the remaining Houndour pup darting away in fear.

Alex had just enough time to fire a shot at one of the Houndoom, which by a sheer stroke of luck, hit the Houndoom's head, killing it instantly.

Soon after, he leaped out of the tree, only not as gracefully as he probably could have. He had intended to land on the ground, then take aim and shoot the remaining Houndoom, but instead, he slipped and fell backwards upon landing, hitting his head on a nearby large rock, knocking him unconscious.

Meganium managed to get close enough to the remaining Houndoom that it could unleash a wave of Stun Spore in its direction. The effect was instantaneous. The flames ceased immediately, and the Houndoom was left wide open for an attack, an opportunity Meganium ceased without hesitation.

While this was going on, Haru was making his way towards the direction Alex had fallen. However, he never made it. Meganium had knocked the remaining Houndoom over with a Body Slam and was about to finish it, when the sound of a bullet being fired rang through the air.

The bullet whizzed past Haru, barely missing him. The Houndoom was unable to let out a yelp or any other cry of pain due to its paralysis as the bullet buried itself into its chest, ending its life. An odd sound filled the air then, one not expected after such a fierce fight: applause.

Haru turned to find a blonde man wearing a black overcoat walking towards them, slowly clapping and nodding. Another man wearing a similar outfit wasn't far behind him, bent down to one knee and carryed a now smoking rifle.

"Nice, very nice," the blond said, his voice ringing out through the clearing. His voice was very clear, and one of obvious authority of some sort, "You are all very skilled Trainers. Not many could have handled a pack of Houndoom like that." He then stopped walking and sighed.

"Although...I truly wish there were better ways of handling Pokémon these days," he said. The man then turned his gaze towards Magnium's Trainer. "Don't you agree...Haru?"

Haru felt his heart skip a beat. How did this man know his name?

Mina looked to Haru with a blink of confusion. So, Haru was this guy's name? They had never gotten around to introducing themselves to each other. She turned back towards the thugs._ Better late than never, I suppose._

The blond continued. "We've been looking for you for a very long time, you know," the man said, walking closer towards Haru, "almost 12 years in fact. You see-"

A loud cry suddenly filled the air, causing Haru to turn around. Meganium was charging in his direction, its gaze focused on the blonde man. Haru didn't even notice the Pokéball being thrown, or the large Arcanine that came bounding from it, until it had collided with Meganium. Both Pokémon stumbled backwards, reeling from the attack. Arcanine then lowered itself onto the ground, in preparation to pounce for another attack.

"I suggest you put your Meganium inside its Pokéball, Haru," the man said, "before my Arcanine is forced to tear it apart - a process I somehow doubt it will enjoy, seeing as its part Poison, but I assure you, he won't hesitate to attack."

Haru stared at the man, then glanced at his Arcanine, who was waiting for any sign that Meganium might attack. He then risked a glance at Mina.

Mina was in a bit of a tizzy now. What was going on anymore? Everything was happening so quickly. They had been fighting for what may well have been their lives, and now this? Alexander was sprawled somewhere, and the Tyranitar man with the sword - and his Tyranitar - had somehow gotten away as well. Good for them, really. She had been scanning the area around her, pistol in hand, but her attention was called back as Charizard roared, and as one of the authoritative blonde man's statements was directed at her.

"Oh, don't even," the man scoffed, "That man over there is one of our best marksmen. If she makes so much as a move to do anything, I'm afraid we'll have to gun her and her Pokémon down." He then turned to face Mina. "I suggest you put your Pokémon away as well," he said with a smile, "My men tend to be a bit...jumpy."

It was then that Haru noticed two large things that appeared to be tanks coming over the horizon. He also noticed that the gunman now had his rifle trained directly on Mina.

"Meganium," Haru called.

Meganium looked up at Haru in shock. Was Haru actually telling him to back off? The answer came quickly, as Haru wasted no time in pulling out a Pokéball and pointing it at Meganium. Meganium glared at the man briefly, which caused Arcanine to growl yet another warning.

"_Meganium_," Haru said, this time with much more authority in his voice.

Meganium let out a sound similar to a sigh, then lowered its head. A red light shot out from the Pokéball, enveloped Meganium, and then Meganium was gone.

_Shit, they really have all their bases covered._ Mina thought as she followed suit. She holstered her pistol, which seemed rather pathetic compared to the larger, more expensive guns these men were carrying. Her eyes were locked on the man pointing the gun at her head. Charizard had, thankfully, remained silent - well, as silent as a large, snorting dragon could be - but its pose and glare clearly showed it was ready to dissociate some heads from their respective bodies. She held up her hand to it, a gesture signifying it should stand down, before grudgingly withdrawing her Pokémon. She patted her Pupitar on the head before withdrawing him, too.

"Wonderful!" the blonde man said, "Now then. I hope you don't mind coming with me for awhile. You see, our team requires your assistance, Haru, and from what we've gathered, we may just have a common goal. Miss, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us, too. Who knows? Perhaps you'll want to help as well. I know our team could certainly use more people like you," he said, the last bit directed towards Mina.

It was at this time that the tank-looking things came into view - they were actually very large jeeps. Eventually, they made it into the clearing and came to a stop, two fully-equipped men in black outfits leaping out of them.

Haru glanced around the area in search of the man with the Tyranitar. He didn't see them, so he hoped they had gotten out of the way, perhaps gone to help Alex.

Haru thought for a moment as two of the men scanned the area, another man pointed his gun at Mina, and the other came and whispered things to the blonde man. It was clear these people knew about him. However, had they truly intended to harm him - or anyone else in the group, for that matter - they would have done so already. Despite that, though, Haru somehow had a feeling that neither he nor Mina had a choice in the matter, and it would be prudent for them to play along with these mysterious people...for now.

"Alright," Haru said with a nod, tossing a glance at Mina as he did so. He hoped she was following the same train of thought as he was.

Mina glanced at him, frowning, momentarily taking her eyes off one of the guns which were pointed at her head. Their eyes met for a moment, and she understood. It was either this, or getting gunned down on the spot.

"Excellent!" The blonde man boomed as the other man he was speaking to ran off, "Now then, if you'll both just hop into the jeeps here..."

Mina nodded slightly, before walking steadily towards the cars. As she stood next to Haru, she considered telling him her name, a semi-formal introduction of sorts, but then considered how the armed men would react to them muttering to each other, and decided against it. It didn't really matter at this point, anyway. She hopped in one of the jeeps, keeping her face straight to avoid revealing her feelings - mostly anger, with a hint of frustration, as she hated being rendered helpless - then rapidly slid over to the other seat, just in case Haru would be allowed to sit in the same jeep as her. Even though she didn't really know him, Mina would have preferred sitting next to him than being in a car of heavily armed strangers.

* * *

**_IMPORTANTish STUFF:_**_ This is a project that I've taken on that is the result of a long, on-going role-play on RPA. I am NOT the only writer/player in this RP, and I DO NOT take full credit for what isn't my work. Check the Author's Note and Credit sections to see credit where credit is due. My project correlates with the Rules of RPA, and I also have received permission from the GM's Potatrobot and Preach on RPA to do this project. If you are one of the players/writers of this RP and you do not want your work involved in this project, feel free to PM me on RPA [my username is CartelSaide] and we will discuss the solution there. Thank you for your patience and understanding._

* * *

_**CREDITS SECTION:**_ The RPA users credited with writing Part One of _Pokemon: The Change_ are:

**RPA Username** *other potential info* {_character(s) they controlled/Parts they wrote_}  


**Tetsuya** *former GM and creator of RP* {_Route 22 Prologue; Haru; Magnium; Blonde Team Rocket man and company_}

**Familiar** {_Alexander_}

**Marc Raehh** {_Chris; Romanav/Tyranitar_}

**Preach** *co-GM of original RP* {_Mina; Charizard; Pupitar_}

**Potatrobot** *co-GM of original RP* {_Forward_}

**CartelSaide** *me* {revised and edited everything; reformatted everything from RP to story format}

* * *

_Pokémon is property of Nintendo._


	2. Part Two - Saffron

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ First of all, please make sure that you read the first Author's Note made on Chapter 1 - it explains everything you need to know about this project, especially if you have plans to make a comment/review this work. Secondly, goodness! Part 2 is rather long! It beats chapter 1 by almost 2000 words! Wow!

Ah, but part 3...now it's a doosy. On Open Office, Part 2 was only around 21-25 pages of text when first copied and pasted from the RP into the document... part 3? It's about 36 pages. Crazy, I know. So don't expect part 3 for a little while. To tide you over, I'm considering starting up Reckless's [my character] Change story from before he joins the Johto-Kanto crew in this story. I suppose anyone following me will know if I go through with my plan or not yet ha.

NONE OF THIS IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT OR WORTH READING WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME? ...Sorry for wasting your time! Enjoy the story!

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_**Part Two - Saffron  
{Dusky and Deron}**_

Dusky was getting prepared for another day at the restaurant. She ditched her normal clothes for a tattered old waitress uniform. It was a simple black skirt and red top with a white apron that she tied around her waist. In the small pocket on the front of the apron was her order book. She slipped on her belt and placed the four Pokéballs on it, but not before letting out Growlithe.

"Morning, Growlithe," Dusky said, patting the Pokémon gently on the head. Growlithe smiled softly at the affection and jumped on the small lumpy couch where Dusky spent many restless nights watching TV.

Dusky slipped on her boots and pulled back her hair into its usual ponytail. Finally ready, she headed for the door, picking up the keys as she walked out of her small one-bedroom apartment. Growlithe trotted out behind her and she locked the door and padlock, sticking the key in the front pocket of her apron.

"Alright, time to go," she said, walking down the hall, humming softly. She knew Growlithe always liked listening to her voice, whether it was singing, humming, or just talking in general.

Dusky made her way to the lobby, and with each step came a jingle from the dog tags around her neck. She waved at the manager, a man by the name of Robbie who was in his late forties. He lost his entire family to the Change, his only companion now being his Zigzagoon.

"Heading to work, Dusky?" Robbie called to her as she walked towards the door.

"Sure am, Robbie. I gotta pay the rent somehow," she replied.

"Just be careful; word has it there a few guys causing problems," he warned her. Dusky shrugged at this information.

"Nothing I can't handle," she assured him, pushing the glass door open. "I get off at six tonight, so I should be back around seven o'clock."

"Got it, see you then! Bye, Dusky, bye, Growlithe," Robbie waved to them as they stepped out into the daylight.

The morning air was crisp and cool, just like Dusky liked it. The rising sun promised a warm day, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. This is just what Dusky needed after last night. She had yet another nightmare. The streets around her were littered with garbage, but aside from that, Saffron City was spectacular! The remains of the buildings that were destroyed during the Change were long gone, and empty lots were scattered throughout the city. The sound of children playing nearby was heard, though Dusky couldn't see where they were. Honestly, the city seemed to be getting back to normal after all these years.

Growlithe stuck close to Dusky, refusing to leave her side. After thirteen years, he was still protective of her. It only got worse after the Change when feral Pokémon began to attack. Dusky could recall on more than one occasion where a feral Pokémon had broken into their old house in Violet City in search of food, and each time Growlithe had been the one to save her.

Within moments after her recollections, Dusky arrived at a restaurant called "The Snorlax Diner". It appeared to be a little beaten up, a few cracks here and there, and at night, when the sign was lit up, the letters 'R' and 'X' flickered continuously through the hours of darkness. Aside from those minor problems, however, the restaurant was perfect. She stepped through the glass door into the old eatery where the owner, Sal, was just starting up the grill. At the sound of the bell which indicated there was a customer, she looked up.

"Oh, good mornin', Dusky," Sal said, smiling her toothless grin. Sal was an older woman, around seventy, with long silver hair she kept back in a braid. Her husband, James, was a few years older than her, and he was currently counting the money in the register. Like his wife, all his hair had turned silver, and he also had a toothless grin, which they both made up for by wearing dentures during work hours. They were the sweetest (and oldest) couple in Saffron City, and Dusky knew she was extremely lucky to be working for them.

"Good morning, Sal. Morning, James," Dusky smiled as Growlithe ran in and the door shut behind them.

"How are ya' feelin' this morning?" James asked. He seemed to always know when something was bothering Dusky.

"I, uh, just had another nightmare last night, that's all," said Dusky as she pulled the other Pokéballs off her belt and let out Vulpix, Eevee, and Pichu.

"Well, hopefully today will get yer mind off it," said Sal. She and her husband both had a thick country drawl, and Dusky thought it added to their charm.

"I hope so," Dusky sighed as Pichu jumped onto her shoulder. "I don't think I can stand another restless night."

"Well, let's get you and yer Pokémon some breakfast and we'll start going over today's specials," James said, pulling down a few plates. "Vincent better hurry up an' git here. I don' wanna wait."

As if on cue, Vincent strolled in, his head held high. Vincent was their grandson, who was a few years older than Dusky. He was extremely smart, and he lived with Sal and James. So, in return for letting him stay at their home, Vincent doubled as the cook for "The Snorlax Diner". He had a head full of messy brown curls and dark eyes. His Pokémon, a Pidgey, was perched on his shoulder.

"Hope I didn't miss anything," he said. Unlike his grandparents, Vincent didn't have a country accent.

"You didn', but next time you better hurry up," said James. "Alright, now, let's get to work."

And so the day began.

Around noon was when the restaurant began to get busy. Most people who lived in the city stopped for lunch, happily catching up with Sal and James. A few teenagers ventured into "The Snorlax Diner", sharing the latest gossip with each other. Eevee, Vulpix, and Pichu were the center of attention; the little kids who came with their parents eagerly flocked to the small Pokémon, happy to see Pokémon who _weren't_ vicious. Growlithe also got attention from the little kids, but he stayed by Dusky's side the entire time. The other three Pokémon were happily darting around the restaurant, visiting with the customers. Everyone was friendly, sharing smiles and jokes as if the world hadn't died around them twelve years prior.

Tommy, a small six year-old boy with short blonde hair and big blue eyes eagerly ran up to Dusky as he and his mom entered the restaurant.

"Dusky! Dusky! Dusky!" he exclaimed, hugging Dusky tightly around the waist, which caused her to laugh. The couple she was waiting on smiled.

"Tommy," Dusky said, "I'm working right now."

"I know! But guess what!"

"Hold on a second," she warned him. She turned back to the couple. "So, have you decided what you want?"

"Oh, yes," smiled the woman. "I'll have the Tauros burger."

Dusky cringed a bit on the inside; the thought of eating Pokémon greatly disturbed her, and she couldn't help but feel guilty when she ate meat. She would've become a vegetarian, but after the Change, there were barely any healthy vegetables around. The grass Pokémon greatly depleted, and as a result she hadn't seen a single grass Pokémon in years.

"How would you like that cooked?" Dusky asked.

"Well done," said the woman, closing her menu and handing it to Dusky. She took it and looked to the man.

"And you, sir?"

"The same as my wife," he smiled while handing his menu to Dusky.

She scribbled their order down in her pad and, with Tommy still clinging to her waist, shuffled over to the kitchen and tore out the order, handing it to Vincent.

"Thanks!" said the chef. He looked at Dusky and saw Tommy attached to her. "Hey, you know you have a kid hanging off you, right?"

"Yes, I'm very aware," she laughed. Tommy let go of Dusky, and she saw he was practically jumping up and down. "Okay, okay, okay. What do you want to tell me?"

"My dad is coming home!" he exclaimed. "And he said he has a present for me!"

"Is that so?" Dusky inquired, smiling. Tommy's father traveled all around the Kanto and Johto regions for long spans of time. The last time she saw him was five months ago. Tommy's mother usually worked over at the Pokemon Center, and Tommy spent a lot of time at the diner; he looked up to Dusky like she was his older sister.

"Yeah! Isn't that exciting?" he asked eagerly.

"It sure is!" Dusky said. It was then that Pichu ran past Dusky and into the kitchen, Vulpix and Eevee following him close. Dusky knew Vincent was probably giving them lunch.

"Hey! Waitress! I'm thirsty!" barked someone. Dusky looked up and saw her least favorite person in all of Saffron City: Daniel.

"Alright, Tommy, time to go back to your mom," said Dusky. Tommy happily obeyed, petting Growlithe before bouncing back over to his mother.

Slowly, Dusky made her way over to Daniel. Resentfully she said, "Welcome to the Snorlax Diner. How may I help you?"

"It's about time someone showed up!" he said, his voice loud and arrogant. Daniel was your typical jerk; rude, cocky, and very annoying. He seemed to greatly enjoy pestering Dusky on a daily basis, and he was getting quite good at it. "I think I'll have a soda pop, and I better get it quick. I don't like waiting."

Dusky just rolled her eyes and got him his soda. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Dusky stood in her small apartment kitchen, stirring the stew she was making whilst it began to boil on the stove. Growlithe was lying on the cracked tile floor, waiting for their dinner to be done. Eevee and Vulpix were curled up on the couch, sleeping peacefully, and Pichu perched himself on Dusky's shoulder, which is where he usually placed himself. Dusky cut up the bit of Tauros meat she had been able to afford and cooked it before dropping the small pieces into the stew. A few minutes passed and soon she was pulling out five bowls.

"Time to eat," she said to everyone, though Growlithe and Pichu already knew. She filled a bowl for each of her Pokémon, feeding them first. Pichu was sitting on the counter, and, as usual, looked down at his stew with much distaste. Dusky scooped the rest of what little stew was left into her bowl and gave a hefty sigh as she saw Pichu. "You have to eat."

He looked at her sadly. "Pi. . . ." He pointed to the only picture in her apartment - it was of her brother. A feeling of sadness began to flood through Dusky as she nodded, her throat tightening as tears built up in her eyes.

"Yeah, I miss him, too," she said, her voice cracking, "but that's no reason not to eat, so go on. Eat up. You need your strength. I don't want to lose you, too."

Pichu nodded at her words and slowly began to nibble on some meat he picked out of the stew, likely so that the taste wouldn't linger as long as the taste of the stew itself later.

As they all ate together in comfortable quiet, Dusky remembered how before the Change, she always saw Pichu sitting under the apple tree they grew in their back yard, snacking on apples whenever he pleased (he was a bit of a glutton when it came to apples), so after the Change, he had to grow used to eating meat. Even after twelve years, he still hadn't grown completely accustom to eating meat from Pokémon; then again, neither had Dusky. The other three Pokémon had had very little problems with the change of food, so they never showed any reluctance when it came to eating.

Dusky briefly glanced out the window onto the bare streets of Saffron City. Then a simple thought crossed her mind:

_Leave._

The thought of leaving the semi-safe walls of Saffron City had never entered her mind before, not after all the years she spent here. Why would it come to her so suddenly?

Nonetheless, Dusky shook her head, dismissing the thought. She had no reason to leave. Well, not yet. So, after they all finished their food, she peered into the fridge, only to find it bare, not a scrap of food left. She sighed and brushed her hair back into a ponytail and slipped on her shoes. She had no work today, so she decided it would be a good time to head out and get some grub for later before it got dark and extra dangerous. Dusky grabbed her draw-string bag and slipped it over her shoulder. Her Pokémon were looking up from their empty bowls, wondering why their trainer was getting ready.

"Come on, we're going shopping," she smiled. The Pokémon, aside from Growlithe, gave out a happy cheer. Shopping was one of the few things they got joy out of. Growlithe, however, thought it was too dangerous. After all, he didn't trust anyone aside from Dusky, Pichu, Eevee, and Vulpix. But all the same, with Pichu and Eevee on her shoulders, Vulpix in her arms, and Growlithe by her side, Dusky left the apartment and headed towards the small (and only) shop in Saffron City that sold food.

It didn't take long to get to the shop. It was made of wood, and it had an old weathered sign leaning against the front of the shop that said in faded black letters: _Market_. Underneath it in the same faded black letters read: _NO POKEMON ALLOWED!_ Dusky paused to put all her Pokémon away, even Growlithe, before stepping through the front door. The owner, an older, grumpy man with failing eye sight named Frank, sat behind the dusty counter and eyed Dusky as she stepped through the door.

"Hey, Frank," Dusky said before he could ask who it was.

"Oh, it's you, Dusky," grunted Frank. The man didn't like people, but if he did, Dusky would've been his favorite. "Come in for the usual?"

"Yes please," Dusky smiled, reaching into her bag for her money while Frank walked over to the freezer and pulled out some Tauros meat. "How much will it be?"

"The same as usual," he replied gruffly. Dusky exchanged the money for the meat and just as she was going to turn to leave, someone else walked in. She turned briefly looking over her shoulder, figuring it was just someone else who came in for food. That is, until the person said:

"Do you have any Pokémon?"

Usually, Dusky won't have thought twice about the questions, but the tone of the person's voice was different: demanding, rough, and very dangerous. She pulled her jacket down some to hide the Pokéballs on her belt and turned around slowly. What she observed upon turning was a man with olive skin and jet black hair with dodgy grey eyes. He was tall and had a muscular build, making him look threatening. But what was the most alarming thing about him was the fact that Dusky was staring down the barrel of his gun.

"Uh, no, I don't," she replied, trying to keep her voice even and calm, "I'm terrified of Pokémon."

"Give me your bag," he growled as he let his gun fall to his side.

Not wanting to give the man a reason to shoot her or Frank, Dusky quickly handed her bag over. The man snatched it away and dumped the contents out: her wallet, two empty Pokéballs, and two pictures: one of her parents and the other of her brother and his Arcanine. The man took her wallet and threw her bag to her. It went over her head, so she reached for it, exposing the four Pokéballs on her belt. The man laughed.

"So, you do have Pokémon," he growled, pointing his gun at her face. "Give 'em here."

Dusky felt suddenly courageous and boldly said, "No!"

"Well then," he muttered, "I guess I'll have to take them from you." He put his finger to the trigger and-

_BANG! BANG!_

The shot rang clear in Dusky's ears and she watched as two holes suddenly appeared in the thug's chest, blood pouring freely from them. He looked at his chest and then to Dusky, dropping his gun as he collapsed to the floor. He was dead. Dusky slowly looked behind her and saw Frank standing there with a pistol in his hand.

"Fr-Frank," she stammered. "I-I…thank you."

"Don't mention it," he shrugged. "Now, pick up that gun he dropped and take your meat. Go home."

Dusky nodded stiffly. "R-right. Again, thanks."

"Like I said, don't mention it," he repeated.

Dusky slowly bent down and picked up the gun, not sure what to do with it. She slowly released the man's grip on her wallet and put her belongings back in her bag, awkwardly holding the gun in her hand.

"Go ahead and let your Pokémon out," Frank instructed. "Okay, go on and get home. Just be careful."

"I will," Dusky said, still short of breath.

She let out Growlithe and she slowly walked around the body. Growlithe growled at the man, but once he realized the man was dead, he followed his trainer as they headed back towards home. Dusky was still shaken. That had never happened to her before. Granted, these were dangerous times, and she'd been mugged on occasion due to them, but be it the good-natured folk of the town bringing it to prosperity despite the dark times they were in or simply dumb, long lasting luck, in Saffron never did a mugger carry anything more dangerous than a pocket knife. Hell, most of them didn't even have Pokémon, and the few that did had nothing bigger than a Ratatta. As she exited the shop the warning Robbie gave her a few days prior rang clear in her mind, only this time it seemed a bit more ominous than before. Man did she wish she took that warning more seriously…

But now she had a gun - she only hoped she wouldn't have to use it. Still, she would if there ever came a time.

* * *

Deron was walking down Route 8, his destination lying dead ahead of him. He kept his ears sharp to keep track of his environment, or at least what was left of it post-Change. Although his head was aimed at the dry and dead surface he walked over, his eyes soared from left to right, until suddenly the rustling of dead plants echoed across the area. Deron stopped in his tracks and lifted his head up, the dog tag and shell piece hanging from his neck colliding, providing a slight clinging sound. His hands moved out of his pockets, pulling his jacket open as one hand rested on the knife locked onto his belt, the other running along the collection of Pokéballs hanging from the same strap. In the same instant, he dropped his worn-out, black backpack that was hanging over one shoulder on the ground. "I know you're out there... Show yourself and face me like a man!" He called out into the wind, but no response came. After a while of standing there, waiting for any sign that made him certain it was just his paranoid imagination forcing him to worry, Deron finally convinced himself it was probably the wind…probably not, actually, but no use standing there forever; _somebody_ had to move and it didn't seem to be his pursuer that would first. So he slowly bent down, guard still very much up, reaching for his backpack, then cautiously got back on track. Leaving his hands in place on the knife and his Pokéballs, he continued forward, incessantly shifting his gaze from left to right. Saffron City was right ahead, but whatever was following him wasn't going to let him get there unharmed.

Out of nowhere, it suddenly happened. Two Persians leaped out of hiding, one in front and one behind Deron, growling and hissing menacingly. They were obviously starving and craving a good meal. They circled around Deron as their prey, but Deron, backpack on this time, didn't even break a sweat. His eyes just coldly followed the two feline Pokemon as they circled around him. His fingertips traced along the Pokéballs, picking out one specifically, pressing the button in the sphere's middle. As it grew to full size, he dropped the ball next to himself. It flashed open, causing the two Persians to stumble back from surprise, as a rugged, but rather well-trained Magnemite hovered above Deron's shoulder. Deron's cold eyes met those of the Persian in front of him as he swiftly drew his knife, spinning it in his hand. "Come at me, kitty..." The two Persian collected themselves and rushed forward, claws out as they were aiming mostly for Deron, who swiftly dove to the side. Meanwhile, his Magnemite was somersaulting through the air to the opposite side Deron went, causing the two Persians to smash into each other headfirst, dropping onto the ground beneath them, dazed. Deron didn't even hesitate to call out his next words. "Magnemite. Thunder Wave!" The aluminiferous Pokémon gave off a metallic sound as sparks ignited between the ends of its magnets. Electricity surged through the electric Pokémon, letting waves of electricity burst out, striking both Persians at once with it. As a result, their nerve systems paralyzed them almost completely. Deron walked over to the two, shaking his head, before raising his hand. "Magnemite. Enough." Magnemite obeyed his command without question, and then Deron put away his blade and continued on to the city. The Magnemite hovered by his side as they left the two Persians helplessly paralyzed, unable to move.

Once Deron finally stepped into the city, he let out a sigh of relief, taking out the same Pokéball as earlier. "Magnemite. Return." And with those words, his Magnemite was returned into its ball; thereafter Deron would put the ball on his belt again, only to be startled by two sudden gunshots in the distance. Knowing it was likely to put him in the middle of a mess, his body disobeyed his will as he started rushing towards the origin of the noises. As he rushed through the streets, he stopped at a crossroads, pausing to look around. He didn't know where to go from there… That was until he saw a girl come out of a small shop. He narrowed his eyes at her, spotting something that resembled a gun in her hands. Glaring, he reached for his firearm as he stepped towards the girl on a rapid pace, raising his own gun and aiming it directly at her. "Alright, criminal! I don't know who you robbed or what you just stole, but a smoking gun tells me enough. So make a smart move by putting that gun down and surrendering yourself!" His other hand already had a Pokéball gripped between three fingers, pressing the button so it would grow to full size, obviously being aware of the Growlithe that was accompanying her.

Dusky was stunned as she watched the man approach her. What had she done? Why was he calling her a criminal? But at the mention of the gun in her hand, she realized why he had accused her of such a thing as stealing. The gun he had pointed at her showed her this was no joking matter, and her face paled. So, not wanting to get shot, she laid the gun on the ground. She wasn't much for weapons anyway aside from her knife. Slowly, she returned her hands to her sides, fighting the urge to scream. Her heart was pounding, and Growlithe was growling lowly. He wouldn't attack unless Dusky commanded him or if she was hit first, and it was obvious he was waiting for her to say anything that sounded like a command for him to attack.

"I-I didn't st-steal anything," she stammered. She cursed herself mentally for stuttering but continued to explain. "I live here, and I was just out getting some meat for my Pokémon and myself. When I was in the shop, some guy came in and tried to take my Pokémon-"

As if on cue, Pichu (who had a habit of breaking out of his Pokéball at the worst times), just happened to burst out of his Pokéball, cheering happily about who-knows-what.

Deron narrowed his eyes even further, gripping the gun tightly as he listened to her, his eyes darting to the Pichu as it popped out.

"Pi! Pi! Pichu!" he sang, jumping up and down. Then he saw the man with the gun and quickly fell silent as he took cover behind Dusky's legs, whimpering in fear.

"Uh . . . sorry about that," she said quickly.

Deron replied simply by dropping his own Pokéball, letting it flash open to reveal a Kadabra, which seemed to be pretty worn out, obviously in need of rest. Deron let the Kadabra observe the worried girl and judge the rest of the situation alongside Deron as Dusky continued explaining herself.

"Anyway, as I was saying, he tried to take my Pokémon, and that gun," she said, pointing to the gun that lay on the ground, "was his. I tried lying telling him I didn't have any, but he saw my Pokéballs and demanded I give them to him. When I told him 'No', he was going to shoot me, but the store owner, Frank, shot him first and killed the man. Then Frank told me to take the meat I had come in to purchase and the man's gun and head home."

She drew in a deep breath, now shivering from fear. This had been the second time within maybe a few minutes that she had been held at gun point. Needless to say, it hadn't been a good day. Still, Dusky tried to steady herself and she looked the man dead on. As she looked at his eyes, she saw there was just a trace of sadness, and if it hadn't been for their circumstances, she might have asked him what was bothering him. But Dusky knew this was no time to be courteous to a stranger who was trying to debate whether to shoot her or not. The growls coming from Growlithe were becoming more and more menacing by the second, and Pichu's whimpers were becoming more pitiful with each one he made audible to those standing around him.

"I swear," she breathed. "You can go in there and ask Frank yourself." Her voice was smooth and even as she said this, she could only hope he believed her. She wasn't ready to die.

Deron paused, thinking for a moment, and then turned to his Pokémon companion. "Kadabra… Do you think this girl could be a criminal...?" The psychic Pokémon glanced over to the three thoughtfully, stepping closer to them, holding his spoon up as he observed them closely. He walked closer and closer until he was about a meter away from the three, then he turned shaking his head.

At that, Deron, nodded and lowered his gun, putting it away. "Hand her her gun again." Kadabra nodded, using his telekinesis to carefully let the gun levitate towards Dusky, allowing it to hover until she took it. Dusky simply let out a sigh of relief as Deron lowered his gun and she took her own gun in her hand. Deron then called the tired Kadabra back into his ball, speaking up in a serious but somewhat gentler tone now. "My apologies for falsely accusing you... I just arrived in town and came over here because of the gunshots. But if my Kadabra believes you to be an honest girl, then so shall I."

She was quite relieved he hadn't shot her (who wouldn't be?), but her heart was still racing. Growlithe was standing very rigid and protectively in front of Dusky, a few low growls still coming from him. Pichu was still shaking behind her, so she knelt down to pick him up in her free arm. "You'll be just fine," she told the shivering Pokémon. Pichu, clutched to her arm before quickly making his way to her shoulder, grasping onto the sleeve of her shirt.

Deron looked down at the Pichu. "No need to be scared, little one."

At this, Dusky's Growlithe had now ceased his growling but he still was looking at the man warily. Dusky turned to the man and nodded slightly.

Following her lead, they got back to conversing. Deron turned his attention to Dusky again, eying her over. "Freezing up like that won't help you if you come to face someone less kind. You need to be a bit more self-assured."

"Thank you," she said, "you know, for not shooting me. I didn't mean to freeze up, but after being held at gun point twice in one day… well, that's never happened to me before," she explained, letting out a bitter laugh.

Growlithe was surprised to hear Dusky sound so calm as she spoke. Usually she would have been hysterical after something like that happened, but somehow she was so… pulled together.

Deron nodded in understanding, then let out a sigh, obviously fairly exhausted himself as he looked around. "Can I perhaps ask you to point me in the direction of a Pokémon center? My Pokémon need some rest." His sorrow-filled eyes gazed down at the girl, taking notice of their height difference; he had to be at least a head taller than her.

"There is a Pokémon center nearby, and I can show you the way if you want," she offered. Dusky needed to stop by there anyway, to check on Nurse Joy and a few other things that went on there at the center. "By the way, I'm Dusky," she said, offering him her hand to shake.

Deron nodded, forcing out a slight grin as he brought his hand up to meet Dusky's holding it gently as he shook it. "Deron. And I would be glad to have you accompany me to the Pokémon center." He smiled, nodding as he looked down at the Growlithe, smiling again before he followed Dusky.

They began to walk slowly and silently, occasionally exchanging glances as they tried to think of what to talk about, if anything at all. Deron didn't seem to pay much mind of her, but Dusky kept looking into his irises every time she glanced upwards. His eyes seemed to fill with more sadness and sorrow the longer Dusky looked up into them, and she had to look away, as she began to feel sad just by maintaining eye contact. It was obvious he had experienced some kind of pain, but what it was, she wasn't sure. As a result, her eyes fell elsewhere to the dog tag around his neck, and she saw what appeared to be a piece of shell was strung on the chain next to it. She decided to study the shell instead of looking into his eyes. Dusky wasn't sure how to react to all that sadness.

The fact that she was looking at his dog tag didn't go unnoticed, however, and he rapidly brought his hands up to pull his jacket together again, closing it to hide the shell fragment. Dusky noticed Deron pulling his jacket together, and she felt a bit guilty, having a feeling that her studying the dog tag and shell bothered him quite a bit

He changed the subject before it was even allowed to settle into words, "A very bold Growlithe you have. I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to catch a bullet for you. Deem yourself lucky to have a Pokémon like that." The tone upon which he was speaking with earlier when he still had her at gunpoint had almost completely vanished, and was replaced with a strong but kind voice.

While they walked, as he complimented her Growlithe, she smiled a little. Even Growlithe, being a very protective Pokémon and very wary of strangers, seemed to appreciate Deron's words.

"Again, I'm sorry for startling you like that earlier. But lately there are so many thugs running around, you just can't be careful enough. You'll need to learn to be able to handle situations like those much calmer, otherwise you're a sitting Psyduck for those who have bad intentions."

Dusky just nodded. He had reminded her lot of her brother when he said that, as Dusky was picked on a lot when she was five and her brother had given her similar advice before. He told her she needed to be strong, not only for herself, but for her Pokémon as well.

They continued walking, and Dusky knew the Pokémon Center should only be a block or two away. She was partly conscious of what was going on, but mostly she was lost in thought about her brother. It had been a while since she thought about him…

As the two were walking through the streets, a small gang of about three men walked out of a nearby alley. They were dressed in rugged leather jackets and looked anything but friendly. The three men stopped in place as they saw Deron and Dusky walk, their eyes seeming to lock on the Pichu and Growlithe as they grinned to each other, stepping forward to cross their paths. One of the guys spoke up quickly. "Well, well... Out for a romantic walk, are we? But for a romantic walk, there should be only two of you... So why don't you just hand over your Pokémon..." The three grinned, pulling out knives. The central one who spoke up also pulled out a gun, obviously being the leader of the bunch.

As Deron's eyes met the three that blocked their path, he pulled himself to a stop and laid a hand on Dusky's shoulder to make her stop in place. He realized that these people would not let the two of them go without a fight, but he alone wouldn't be able to single-handed take on three, especially seeing as most of his Pokémon needed rest.

A sudden hand on her shoulder brought Dusky back to reality, snapping her out of her thoughts. She had been pulled to a halt by Deron. At first, she was a little bit confused as to why he had done that, but then she noticed the three men blocking their way, two armed with knives and the central one sporting a gun. It didn't take a genius to assume these jerks were hoping to take their Pokémon, regardless of if she heard anything when being taken out of her thoughtful haze.

Growlithe began growling again and was about to step forward, but Dusky stuck her leg out in front of him to keep him from moving.

_You need to be strong, not only for yourself, but for your Pokémon…_ Her brother's words echoed in her head, and Dusky, despite hating confrontation, forced herself to remain calm. With that being said, she swallowed back her fear and tightened the grip on her gun before letting out a forceful, "No." This earned a bitter laugh from the three men, as they seemed to be highly amused that Dusky, a young, ostensibly helpless girl, was standing up to them.

"Oh, and do you _really_ think you can stop us?" laughed the central man. His two friends, who would probably be hopelessly lost without their leader, laughed as well.

Dusky was taken aback by their laughter, and she suddenly felt powerless and scared. Pichu was beginning to feel frightened as well, as he was so scared to the point where sparks were beginning to fly off his cheeks.

Dusky knew that, if it came down to it, she could let out Vulpix, seeing as how she and Growlithe would definitely prove useful. She looked at Deron with a look that was obviously silently asking, _What do we do?_

Deron stepped forward in front Dusky, glaring at the three men, the sorrow in his eyes almost completely gone, now replaced with anger. If there was one thing Deron hated, it was the altitude of low life trash like the thugs in front of him. He reached down for a Pokéball from his belt, pulling it out as he spoke calmly. "How about you let her Pokémon go, and you just take mine, hm? She's just a little girl; how could her Pokémon be of any use to you?" The way he talked made it seem as if he was actually serious about handing his Pokémon in to them, as he stepped forward, pressing the central button to make the ball grow its real size, holding it out to the men. "Go on then. Take it."

Dusky watched, practically in awe, as Deron so calmly handled the situation. How she wished she could be as brave as he presented himself. He boldly offered them his Pokémon, but she knew there was no way he would give them up so easily. She saw something flash in his eyes-for a moment, it was as if all the sadness had left them. Granted, what took sorrow's place was anger, and though it wasn't much better, it was a definite change.

The two men in the back looked confused, certainly not expecting someone to surrender his Pokémon this willingly, but the one in the center merely snickered. "How brave... Too bad, though... We'll take both your Pokémon, or someone's going to get hurt." At that, the two henchmen in the back sniggered, which was answered with a frown from Deron's side. "Okay. If you say so." He'd then just let the Pokéball drop on the ground. As he leapt back, it opened up in a large flash, once more recreating the small, floating Pokémon: Magnemite. A mere instant after he called forth his Pokémon, Deron called out. "Magnemite! Harden!" His Magnemite would immediately obey as he would glow dimly, his metallic layer growing stronger.

Deron let out his Magnemite and he controlled it with such ease that Dusky felt envious of his command over his Pokémon. It's not that her Pokémon wouldn't listen to her, because they would, but she was stunned as to how courageous and powerfully he responded to the situation. She could only hope she could eventually become that strong.

The middle thug simply laughed as he raised his gun at the Magnemite. "A little magnet is supposed to stop us?! Hah!" He'd then pull the trigger twice. Two loud bangs echoed through the air surrounding them, yet the bullets fired merely hit the ground near them, as they ricocheted off of Magnemite's reinforced metal layer. The thugs immediately backed away as the Magnemite remained afloat without even a dent or reaction. Deron would follow up with a new command. "Alright... Now let's lift the weight of those weapons from those folks. Pull them in." Magnemite gave another humming sound resembling his name as he proceeded to create a magnetic field, pulling in the gun and the knives, so that they were now stuck to Magnemite's magnet ends.

Deron then turned to Dusky, smirking in her direction. "Why not let Growlithe heat things up for our guests before they leave?" He smirked at her as Magnemite flew back to the criminals, the weapons still clinging to it. The sadness was again persistent in Deron's eyes, but it was more hidden now, which was obviously because his mind was dwelling on more important things.

Dusky gave a solid nod and looked to Growlithe. "You ready, Growlithe?" He barked, showing Dusky he was more than ready. "Alright then! Let 'em have it! Flamethrower, let's go!"

Growlithe jumped forward, seeming happy that he was finally able to do something. He was going to show Dusky he was more than capable of protecting her despite how aware she already was. Growlithe opened his mouth and let out a powerful flamethrower on the three men. The red, orange, and yellow flames engulfed the men and they let out terrible, horrific cries. Deron simpered as he saw the girl's Growlithe rush into action, just looking over at the three getting roasted. This continued for mere seconds before Dusky shouted over the roar of Growlithe's flames, "Stop!" The puppy Pokémon responded immediately by ceasing his attack.

Laying on the ground were the three men, burnt beyond recognition. Dusky wasn't quite sure whether they were alive or not, and if they weren't, that would make four dead people she'd seen today. The smell of burnt flesh reached her nostrils and she pulled her jacket over her nose, cringing at the terrible scent. "Come on, Deron," she said, walking around them, "I can't breathe." Deron nodded in agreement.

Growlithe stood there, watching the two trainers step carefully around the three men laying on the ground before turning to Deron specifically. Though the fire dog couldn't admit it to anyone (even if he wanted to), he appreciated the way Deron had stepped in front of Dusky. Growlithe was very protective of her, and she was pretty much his entire world. If anything ever happened to her . . . well, Growlithe couldn't even imagine what he would do.

Once they were out of range from the burn smell, he planted his hand on her shoulder, as he'd speak up to her again in his kind tone. "Good job back there." He'd then look over to his Magnemite, who still had the weapons attached to him. "Hold on..." He'd let his Magnemite float over to him, pulling the knives and the gun off of him, stuffing them in the worn out backpack that hung over his shoulder, before pulling it back up, taking out Magnemite's Pokéball again. "Spare your energy, Magnemite. Go rest." He'd then let the metallic Pokémon enter his ball once more, latching the ball back onto his belt, nodding at Dusky to signal her he was ready to move on. "Let's get to the Pokémon center fast. My Pokémon are desperate for some medical attention." He'd then just continue onwards next to Dusky, keeping his gaze set on the road ahead of him.

The jump he made way back when he released Magnemite had caused his jacket to once again hang open, revealing the dog tag and the shell-bit. His hands slid into the pockets of his jackets comfortably, but his breaths were long and deep, obviously trying to find something to break the silence with. When he came to Saffron City, he wasn't expecting to run into a girl like Dusky, even less than he was expecting to get mugged. Occasionally, he would throw a glance down at her, obviously taking in her features a bit further to get a more general idea of what kind of person he was in the company of.

Dusky had her hands in her pockets, watching the street ahead of her. She was hoping, almost praying, that they wouldn't run into anyone else. The Pokemon Center wasn't too far, but Dusky guessed a lot could happen in the short distance they had left to walk.

Eventually, Deron cleared his throat as he spoke up, keeping his eyes locked onto the road ahead again. "So Dusky. You have a Pichu and a Growlithe? The Growlithe really seems like the bold type, while the Pichu seems more like the usual playful type. Do you have any other Pokémon...?" He was actually pretty curious about this since one's Pokémon could tell a lot about the trainer.

She reached to her belt and pulled off the two other Pokéballs that contained Pokémon. "Well, I have an Eevee and a Vulpix," she said, tossing the Pokéballs into the air. With a flash, Eevee and Vulpix appeared from their Pokéballs, looking happy to be free of the capsules.

Vulpix was a very happy and somewhat ditzy Pokémon. When she saw Deron, she happily ran over to him, stumbling along the way, and began to cheer happily. "Vul! Vul! Pix!"

Eevee, however, was a very shy Pokémon. Upon seeing Deron, she leaped up at Dusky, who was ready to catch the skittish Pokémon. Eevee took cover on Dusky's free shoulder, hiding herself underneath her trainer's long orange hair. Pichu watched Eevee curiously before turning his attention back to the sky, where he watched the clouds over head.

"Those are my Pokémon," Dusky said with a shrug. "Growlithe and Vulpix were both gifts from my brother. He gave me Growlithe as my first Pokémon, and then Vulpix as my second. Eevee and Pichu used to belong to him." Deron just listened to Dusky, keeping his gaze dead set ahead of him, then she mentioned the disappearance. "He and his Arcanine disappeared after the Change... All I found left of him were two Pokéballs and his dog tags." As she spoke, Dusky grew more and more solemn. She rarely talked about her brother, as if the mention of him was taboo.

For the first few years after the Change, before Dusky left Eterna City, Dusky cried constantly through out the day, barely leaving her room. If it weren't for the fact that Growlithe went out and hunted down wild Pokémon, Dusky probably would've starved to death. Growlithe had kept his trainer and the rest of her Pokémon alive for all those years...

At this point, Deron's eyes turned to her once more, meeting her line of sight, but she seemed as if she was looking straight through Deron. He decided not to comment about it for the time being, even though that the disappearance of her brother reminded him of his own loss once more.  
Luckily for him, his attention was diverted once more as they approached the Pokémon center, his mood easing at the sight of it still functioning, although in lacking condition.

Dusky snapped out of her thoughts. She had been starring at Deron the entire time she spoke. Feeling extremely embarrassed for suddenly zoning out, Dusky looked away from Deron and saw the Pokemon Center laid out in front of them. It had a few cracks here and there, and sometimes the automatic doors would need to be pushed open, but this was one of the few buildings in the city that many of the citizens tried hard to keep open. After all, if it weren't for the Pokemon Center, where else would they take their sick and unhealthy Pokémon?

She came to a slow stop. "Well, here we are," she smiled. "It's a little run down, but Nurse Joy should be able to take care of all your Pokémon." And with that, she walked into the building, her Pokémon following her. She didn't mean to seem rude, but talking about her brother put her in a bit of a funk. Her bright grey eyes had dulled and her usual happy smile had reversed into a frown. Nurse Joy looked up from behind the desk when Dusky walked in.

"Nice to see you, Dusky," Nurse Joy beamed. "Did you come in to check on us?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Dusky barely nodded. "Well, that, and I met someone who needed to get here, so I showed him the way."

"You're always so helpful," Nurse Joy chimed.

Dusky forced a smile. "Thanks."

Once inside, he nodded over to Nurse Joy as a greeting when Dusky mentioned him, walking up to the desk and taking out his Pokéballs. "We've been traveling from Celadon City to here, but the Pokémon center at Celadon lost power while they were treating my Pokémon. They're really worn out... Especially Magnemite." He would put the balls onto the desk, smiling over at Nurse Joy a bit awkwardly before turning around to have a seat near the desk to wait for his Pokémon to be healed up. As he sat, he patted the spot beside him gently, inviting Dusky over to sit with him.

As she sat down, Deron continued their conversation from outside. "I know how you feel... About your brother. Losing someone that close to you is a scar that never heals and can always start bleeding again." His eyes dropped towards the dog tag and shell piece around his neck, before he'd lift them over his head, holding them in his hand. "The dog tag is merely a present an uncle gave to me. He was always fascinated by these things, no idea why." He smiled slightly as he mentioned that, but that smile vanished instantly when his eyes set on the shell piece. "And this fragment..." He'd held the fragment out to Dusky. "This is the only thing I have left of my best friend... And my first Pokémon: Blastoise." His eyes began to tear up, and it wasn't hard to see that he had tried his best to hide his sadness.

After taking a moment to collect himself, he continued. "I'm from Pewter City, so it's only natural I was bound to be interested in something involving rock and stone. I found myself interested by prehistoric Pokémon and wanted to capture one for my own. About twelve years ago, I traveled to Cinnabar Island with my Blastoise, Abra, Magnemite and Nidoran. I halted my journey and my gym battles especially for that. I heard that fossils of Omanytes and Kabutos were found at Cinnabar, and I saw it as my greatest chance to try and get one of them. I was already aware of what kind of Pokémon they were, and knowing they were water Pokémon, Blastoise and I dived down near the shores, where we found an underwater cave. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a living and breathing Kabuto there... Isolated from the outside world." He had to take a moment to just stop and let this all sink in. The memories of Blastoise were cutting open the scars of the loss once more.

As she listened, Dusky noticed a few tears rolling down Deron's face. She put her hand on his shoulder, trying her best to comfort him.

He pulled himself together and continued. "Blastoise and I caught that Kabuto and tried to make our way up to the sea surface again, when... _it_ happened. The change, I mean." He closed his eyes, actually picturing the last moments with his Blastoise. "I was blinded, and felt the pain of being stung, of slashes in my flesh at all sides... At the time I didn't know what it was, but I believe it was likely Tentacool and Tentacruel who had gone berserk because of the change... After that... Everything went black for me..." He paused. "When I woke up... I was lying on the shores of Cinnabar Island... But my Blastoise was gone, save for that shard, which was lodged into my hand... My Abra managed to teleport me and the others to safety, but I've never seen Blastoise ever since..." He closed his eyes again, looking down at the ground. Even though it hurt to talk about it, it somehow felt good to have told someone about the experience.

Dusky was struck silent. She hadn't expected to hear that from Deron. Granted, she knew people lost many things during the Change - friends, family, Pokémon - but she didn't know Deron had. He didn't look as though he had lost someone dear to him. But it did explain why his eyes showed sorrow. He hadn't gotten over the loss of his best friend - Blastoise. Dusky had to pause and think about what she would do if she ever lost Growlithe. After a few moments, she realized she wouldn't be able to do anything. The small puppy was her best friend, her companion, and first Pokémon.

"That must've been hard for you," she began, then told him her story. She didn't like talking about it, but Deron had shared his story, so it only seemed fair if she shared her own. Besides, she had never told her own story to anyone. "When I lost my brother, I was only six. I can remember the day like it was yesterday," she said softly. "I was playing in the front yard with Growlithe and Vulpix, completely oblivious to the fact that there was any sign of danger. Then there was a light from Mt. Silver, and it was blinding. My brother and his Arcanine came running out of the house and ordered me to put Growlithe and Vulpix away, so I did. He was rushing me back when he suddenly lifted me up and threw me into the house. It hurt a lot, but I knew he did it for some reason, not to cause me pain."

Dusky was choking a bit on her words as she tried to fight back the tears that threatened to spill. "So, I turned around and saw my brother and Arcanine rushing towards the door and then everything went white. I had to close my eyes. The next time I opened them, the light was gone and - well, you know how I found his things."

A single tear rolled down her cheek, but that's all she allowed as she continued. "It might not have been so bad, losing my brother, if I had had my parents. But two years earlier, my mother and father were killed...My mom's Ninetales went berserk. She burnt them to a crisp. For some reason I'll probably never know, Ninetales hadn't bothered me. Either way, Ninetales went missing after that and my brother raised me. Me and him were really close, and he was the only family I had left. Losing him...it was sort of like losing a part of myself." She'd managed not to cry, but she wasn't far from.

Deron was about to say something about Dusky's story, but stopped short in response to the sudden power outage So for a moment they were left in still and quiet darkness, a little bit of light streaming in through the dirty windows of the Pokemon Center.

Nurse Joy headed over towards them by now, heels clicking louder and louder as they grew closer whilst their eyes adjusted. Dusky was thankful when Nurse Joy came their way. It gave her an excuse to look away from Deron and pull herself together. She hated crying, at least in front of other people. His eyes diverted over to Nurse Joy as well, blinking as he listened to her address them.

"Dusky," Nurse Joy started, "we need Pichu."

"What's going on?" Dusky asked as Nurse Joy turned on a flashlight.

"Well, it seems the generator's on the fritz again, so it looks like we need to borrow Pichu to help keep the equipment going. Otherwise, this man's Pokémon can't rest," Nurse Joy explained.

Dusky looked down at her little friend. "You think you can handle that, Pichu?" Dusky asked the small, yellow mouse Pokémon.

"Pichu!" exclaimed Pichu, saluting as though he were ready for duty, which caused the crew to snicker. It certainly helped lighten the mood after those heavy-duty sob stories.

"Come here, Pichu," said Nurse Joy. Pichu jumped into the nurse's open arms. "We're going to head into the Resting Wing. You two are welcome to come," Nurse Joy said to Dusky and Deron.

The two of them followed Nurse Joy into the Resting Wing.

Following right behind Dusky, Deron looked around. The Pokémon center had a dark and gloomy look without power. It actually managed to send some shivers running down his spine.  
When they arrived in the room with the generator, he merely watched as Pichu was wired up and started powering the center's facilities. To do so, Nurse Joy put two petite suction cups on Pichu's pinkish cheeks. Connected to the suction cups were the wires that hooked up to a large generator.

"Now, all you have to do is use your electricity to power that generator, Pichu," said Nurse Joy.

Dusky held out a hand to get the nurse's attention. "Er - Nurse Joy, Pichu isn't very good at controlling his electricity. He could hurt everyone, or worse - himself," Dusky said warily. Nurse Joy shook her head.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," she assured Dusky. "Now, Pichu, let's get this fired up!"

Pichu nodded and squinted as he used Thunderbolt. It got the machine started, and the lights turned back on. Then the electricity coming from Pichu suddenly flew off him and hit Dusky's arm.

"Son of a -" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence and grasped her arm. The spark had ripped a hole in her jacket and shirt. Dusky had fallen to the ground when she was hit by the electricity, due to the fact that she hadn't been expecting it.

When the sudden spark of lightning flashed out and struck Dusky, he rushed forward instinctively, leaning over to Dusky. "You okay...?"

Pichu looked terrified that he hurt Dusky, but she shook her head. "I'm fine," she told him. "Just take it down a notch."

Pichu nodded and continued to power the generator, but with less juice. He then looked up at the Pichu again as it continued powering the center, pondering whether its control would be better were it to evolve into a Pikachu. Shaking his head out of his own thoughts, he turned his attention to Dusky.

Dusky looked to Nurse Joy, obviously irritated. "Told you someone could get hurt," she muttered. Growlithe nudged her and Dusky patted his head before looking to Deron. "Well, your Pokémon will be perfectly fine now," she smiled.

Deron smiled back. "Yeah, I guess they-...Hang on!" He turned his attention to Nurse Joy. "Nurse! If you would be able to revitalize my Magnemite first, he could help out Pichu. Perhaps even work to keep Pichu's thunderbolts from hurting anyone else." He smirked at his own idea, before looking down at Dusky. "Magnemite is a purely metallic Pokémon, and can be back at full strength after just being powered up for a bit. The magnetic field around him should make sure that none of Pichu's zaps hit anyone who comes close, like a lightning rod." He spoke as if he knew everything about Pokémon, but then again, he knew his Pokémon inside out.

He looked to Nurse Joy again. "Once Magnemite is powered up, hook him up with Pichu. The center will be running smoothly again in no time. I'll help Dusky tend to the wound in the meantime." He didn't even bother to wait for a response from Joy save a nod as he helped Dusky up and walked with her along to the main hall of the Pokémon center. Reaching below the counter to grab a first aid kit, he took out a bandage and some moist gel, which was used on both humans and Pokémon to deal with burns. As he squeezed a bit of the gel onto his forefingers, he warned, "This may sting a little..." He then rubbed some of the gel over the burnt skin before grabbing the bandage and wrapping the small wound up carefully, but tight. Dusky flinched slightly as Deron dressed her wound. It hurt quite a bit, but it hadn't been the first time Pichu shocked her.

Once that was done, Deron smiled at Dusky. There was something about the girl he liked. Perhaps it was just the fact that she knew a loss similar to his.

Dusky then broke the silence, "'Pichu would be able to control his power a lot easier if he was a Pikachu...' I know that's what Nurse Joy will say when she comes back out here." She sounded a bit bitter as she spoke, but then her voice softened. "I probably would've evolved Pichu by now, but something's keeping me from doing it. Sometimes he'll start to glow, and he's about to evolve, but then I just give him this everstone," she said, pulling the grey stone out of her pocket. "He holds it and doesn't evolve. The same with Eevee. I don't know what stops me from doing it - probably the fact that they belonged to my brother. I guess the thought of changing the Pokémon he raised scares me. I don't know why, but I guess they're just some of the few ties I have left with him, and I don't want to sever those ties... That sounds crazy, doesn't it?" she said with a bitter laugh.

Growlithe came trotting over to Dusky. Though he knew Deron wasn't going to harm her, Growlithe still didn't fully trust him.

Deron sighed as he listened to Dusky, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Listen up, Dusky... I can understand fairly well you don't want to change the memories you have from your brother. But clinging to the past isn't going to help. The main thing is: Your brother won't be gone when Pichu evolves. He's still in your heart, and that's more important than any token you have left from him."

His attention was eventually diverted to the doors of the Pokémon center. The entrance opened and a young boy that came in. Dusky looked up and recognized the boy as Tommy, as well as his mother following close behind. When Tommy saw her, he released his mother's hand and came barreling over towards Dusky and Deron.

"Dusky! Dusky! Dusky!" the blonde cheered while hugging her. Dusky hugged him back with one arm.

"Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!" she mocked him playfully.

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"My daddy is coming home today!" Tommy smiled happily. That's when the young boy noticed Deron next to Dusky. He looked at him, obviously confused. "Who are you?" Without waiting for a response he yelled, "YOU'RE DUSKY'S FRIEND, AREN'T YOU?"

Dusky flinched as Tommy yelled but laughed. "Yeah, he's my friend."

"Are you a Pokémon trainer, too?" Tommy asked Deron anxiously. Deron smiled to himself as he just looked at the kid. growing evermore interested about Deron's Pokémon. "Can I see your Pokémon? How old are you? Where are you from? Do you have a Pidgeot?" The questions flowed from Tommy like a river until Dusky interrupted.

"Tommy, why don't you go see if Nurse Joy needs any help?" she suggested. Tommy stopped asking Deron questions.

"You got it!" And he was off.

Tommy's mother, who worked at the Pokemon Center, looked at Dusky. "Why are you here?"

Dusky explained that Deron needed to rest his Pokémon and that Nurse Joy was using Pichu to keep the lights on. Deron, however, was fairly detached from their conversation, not personally knowing Tommy or his mother and thus not having anything to really talk about; Dusky had it covered. So he kept himself busy, reaching into his pocket and taking out a little device, which seemed like some sort of pocket computer. The little gadget was worn out, though, and seemed to be held together by nothing but duct-tape. His attention completely sliding away from the conversation between the two women, he dialed in something, and an image of Mt. Moon before the change appeared, along with text about it. Deron narrowed his eyes as he scrolled down to read the text, seeming to be looking for something specific.

Meanwhile, as Dusky's explanations came to a close, Tommy's mother nodded and said, "Well, it shouldn't be too much longer before we get another generator, and hopefully that one won't die all the time."

Dusky laughed halfheartedly, her mind wandering elsewhere. "Hopefully."

"I should probably go get to work," said Tommy's mother, walking into the back room. Dusky watched her leave and was about to say something to Deron when she noticed he was busy looking at something. So instead, she stood up and walked over to a chair, her three Pokémon following her.

_What a day..._ Dusky thought, letting out a sigh. She hadn't planned on meeting anyone today, especially Deron, nor had she planned on being held at gun point three times. Eevee hopped on to Dusky's lap, demanding attention from her trainer. Dusky complied, stroking Eevee's fur for a few short moments, but soon after put Eevee and Vulpix away. Nurse Joy was walking out with Pichu in her arms, and the power was still on - the generator was working again.

"Thank you for letting me steal Pichu for a few moments," said Nurse Joy, handing the small electric Pokémon to Dusky.

"No problem," Dusky smiled. Pichu looked happy, but when he saw Dusky's bandaged arm, he frowned a little.

"Pi..." he murmured, poking Dusky's arm. She shrugged.

"It's no big deal," she assured him. "I can still move my arm. See?" She flexed her arm several times to show Pichu she was okay. He seemed to be a little comforted at this.

Nurse Joy then turned to Deron and cleared her throat, hoping to get his attention. "Your Pokémon will be all healed shortly."

Deron looked up from his gadget, putting it away as Nurse Joy spoke to him, nodding in acknowledgment as he smiled back politely. "Thanks."And with that, she left.

Dusky looked over at Deron. "Er - want me to stay? You know, until your Pokémon are healed?" Then she realized he probably didn't have a place to sleep that night. "If you want, once your Pokémon are healed, you can come to my apartment. I have a pretty comfortable couch you could sleep on," she offered. "But if you'd rather not, I understand. I think the rooms here at the Pokemon Center are pretty cozy," she added quickly. Growlithe was standing by the door, wanting to leave, but he knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon, so he trotted back over to Dusky and laid down by her feet.

He glanced over with a chuckle at Growlithe as he came trotting back. "Not fond of the center, are you, Growlithe?" Thinking over the offer, Deron didn't mind her company, and it was safer than sleeping in any place public, so why not? "I think I would like that. Sleeping as a guest to someone kind is always more enjoyable than renting a room in the Pokémon center." The two affirmed this, then idolized until Nurse Joy healed Deron's party.

There was a short wait period around five minutes or so, but Nurse Joy was headed back in their direction, chipper as always and baring the gift of healed Pokémon. Deron turned his attention to Nurse Joy as she came closer. It didn't take all that long for his party to get back up to full strength since they were just tired in an overworked sense and hardly even legitimately wounded. Taking his Pokéballs back one by one, latching them onto his belt, he reached for his bag, pulling it onto his shoulder again. He then turned to Dusky once more, smiling rather contently at her. "Shall we then? I think my Pokémon would enjoy some time outside their Pokéballs... That is, if I am allowed to let them out over at your place."

Dusky grinned and nodded. "Yeah, Robbie, the man who owns the apartment complex, is really nice. I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with you letting your Pokémon out." She told him. Growlithe looked at her, and it was obvious he wanted to leave. She laughed. "Lead the way, Growlithe."

Growlithe happily walked out of the Pokemon Center. Dusky waved good-bye to Tommy and his mom, along with Nurse Joy, and followed her Pokémon, Pichu sitting happily on her shoulder. "It shouldn't take very long to get to the apartment," she told Deron. "It's only about a five minute walk."

She then remembered Vulpix and Eevee, and figured she might as well let them out again so they could walk around and stretch their legs. Pressing the button on both Pokéballs in either hand, the two came out and comfortably found a place to stay; Eevee was at her usual place on Dusky's other shoulder and Vulpix trotted happily by Growlithe's side. Walking next to Dusky, Deron held up a Pokéball of his own to let his Magnemite out once more. Deron smiled as it buzzed merrily, full of energy. "Glad to see someone's happy again." He smirked as they walked the road, looking up at the sky. The sun was already fairly low, so that meant it was late afternoon or early evening. When it got dark outside, that was mostly when trouble started brewing. He shook his head; he had no need for those thoughts anyways. Him and Dusky could handle themselves again if need be.

"Just a heads up," Dusky started as they headed towards her apartment, "it's kinda small, but there will be enough room for both of us and our Pokémon. Oh, and the neighbors are kind of...well, you'll see," she said to Deron.

"Neighbours are kinda...? Kinda what? Do I need to strap myself up in a bullet proof vest?" He sniggered at the joke, although he wasn't sure if it would be taken as funny.

"Well... my neighbors are just... a little...off," she said slowly. "Who knows though, they may be out somewhere else tonight!" _I hope..._ Dusky thought. She really didn't like her neighbors.

On that sentiment, Deron continued, "Anyway, the fact that it's small shouldn't matter much. My largest Pokémon is Kadabra. For the rest I have Magnemite, Nidorino and my Kabuto. They should fit just fine."

A few moments later, they arrived at her apartment complex. Dusky pushed open the door that opened up to the lobby. Robbie was sitting there, playing with his Zigzagoon. When the door opened, he looked up and saw Dusky.

"Hey there, Dusky," he greeted nicely. Then his eyes found Deron and he paused. "And you are...?" He trailed off.

"This is Deron," Dusky said. "He needs a place to sleep, so I offered him my couch for the night... Are you okay with that?"

Robbie just shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me."

Dusky smiled and led the way to her apartment. She unlocked the door then pushed it open, revealing the diminutive housing.

Deron followed Dusky, looking around as he took in the details of her home. It was very plain, with a small table, two matching chairs, a brown leather couch, a small TV, a small kitchen, and two doors, one of which led to the small bathroom and the other led to Dusky's room. Small was the recurring theme around here, but it wasn't claustrophobic, just comfortable. On the little circular table was a picture - the only picture in the entire apartment. It was a photo of a young man in his mid-twenties with a huge Arcanine by his side, a small Pichu and Eevee on his shoulders. Around his neck were his dog tags, and in his arms was a small girl with bright orange hair, a Growlithe and Vulpix sitting by the man's feet. Both the man and girl were smiling, looking as happy as possible.

Deron's lips curled upwards only slightly as he turned to Dusky. "Cozy. Very cozy." He set his bag down beside the door.

"You can take a shower if you need to," she said, walking in and making herself at home. "Are you hungry? I can make something to eat, if you want."

As if on cue, his stomach growled in response to the mentioning of food. "Well... It's been since yesterday since I ate something... So some food would be nice, yes." He patted his stomach. "Though, allow me to help. I don't want to feel like I'm being a burden." He reached for his Pokéballs, letting out his other Pokémon, Kadabra, Kabuto, and Nidorino, who now stood in front of Deron in a neat line. His Magnemite hovered over to the three so that it wouldn't seem like the odd one out. "Enjoy some quality time, guys. You've earned it." Deron then followed Dusky into the kitchen. "Just tell me what to do and where to go, because I'm horrible as a lone cook."

Dusky admired Deron's Pokémon shortly before walking to the kitchen with him, Pichu on her shoulder. Eevee jumped off and she a Vulpix trotted over to the couch and jumped on it, each of them curling up on a cushion and falling asleep. Dusky turned back towards Deron when he asked what he could do.

"Er - I'm not used to people helping me," she said sheepishly. "Um...I have a few vegetables in the fridge. If you want, you could cut those up for me while I cut up the meat," she offered. She pulled out two knives and handed one to Deron. "Because, it's sharp," she joked, laughing lightly.

Deron nodded as he took the knife, then walked over to the fridge and picked out some vegetables then proceeded to chop them up as he was told.

Meanwhile, Deron's Pokémon were already seeing to their own needs. Kadabra settled himself down next to the door, sitting and closing his eyes to relax and focus a bit, a dim psychic aura coming off of him. Kabuto curiously skittered around the room, going from one corner to another to check everything out. Magnemite hovered around Pichu again, still attracted to the electricity the Pokémon practically emitted. Finally, Nidorino headed over to Growlithe, narrowing his eyes at the Pokémon in a territorial way, muttering in a challenging fashion: "Ni... doo..." He wanted to spar with Growlithe to test their strength.

Growlithe, who was laying down, looked up at Nidorino, not very interested in sparring with anyone. He was extremely tired, and personally, he found it quite pointless. So, Growlithe pushed himself up to his feet and trotted into the kitchen, deciding to lay by Dusky. His trainer looked down at him and smiled, bending over to pet him.

Nidorino headed over to the kitchen after Growlithe, blinking in surprise, then walked away rather disappointed at the outcome. He now headed back to the living room and laid down next to the couch upon which Vulpix and Eevee were. Perhaps rest was a better idea anyway.

"You're such a good boy, Growlithe," Dusky cooed. The puppy Pokémon let out a growl of contempt with all the strange Pokémon in his territory, and Dusky just giggled then returned to cutting the meat into small chunks. Deron glanced over at Growlithe with a grin as well. Dusky put the meat she'd cut up into a pan and began cooking it, then turned to Deron. "How are the vegetables coming along?"

Deron turned his attention away from the fire dog and back to the veggies in front of him. "Coming along nicely."

While they both cooked and chopped in mostly silence, Pichu jumped off Dusky's shoulder, running over to the TV with Magnemite hovering close behind, then turned it on. A bit of static was displayed at first, but soon the picture was crystal clear. The movie Dusky had been watching earlier came on, showing a young girl and a Pikachu wandering through the forest, and Pichu pressed his face against the screen, watching the Pikachu, wondering what it would be like if he ever evolved. As the screen got brighter and clearer, Magnemite hovered a bit closer, ever interested in its mechanics. Every so often the magnet Pokémon would get a little too close and cause a slight disturbance on the TV, interrupting the movie with a fairly loud crackling noise. Dusky jumped a little bit at the interference, but laughed at herself for getting scared when she noticed the cause. Before it startled her again with a knife in her hands or something, she decided to go turn off the TV.

As she did this, Deron scolded his Pokémon. "Magnemite. Be a bit more careful." The metallic Pokémon looked over with its typical vacant expression, before hovering away from the TV, going over to linger idly. Pichu was a bit disappointed at no longer being able to watch his movie, but found new entertainment in the Magnemite's company.

Then the two trainers got back to preparing the meal. Deron pondered over certain things while cutting, eventually speaking his mind. "Say Dusky... You said that you have always kept Pichu from evolving because he's your brother's Pokémon, but wouldn't your brother want his Pokémon to develop as well?" He glanced over to her as he talked.

Dusky nodded slowly, "I suppose you're right, but I'm not entirely sure... I know I would if I was in his shoes, but... Every time I think about them evolving, I can't help but wonder if that's what my brother would want too..." She took a deep breath. "Ryan - that was my brother's name - he never really pushed his Pokémon to evolve. The only reason his Growlithe had evolved was because Ryan had a Fire Stone in his bag. He was saving it for an emergency, just in case his Pokémon needed to evolve... Well, one day, while Ryan and Growlithe were practicing their shooting - my brother was in the military - my brother slid off a cliff and landed on a ledge about fifty feet down. He broke both his legs. He had taken off his pack before the fall, and Growlithe wasn't sure what to do. So, he went into my brother's bag, found the Fire Stone and...he evolved. As an Arcanine., he was able to jump down, rescue my brother, and then get him to safety...but Ryan never once evolved his Pokémon purposely. That's why I'm so hesitant to do so with Pichu or Eevee... What if that isn't was Ryan wanted? What if I'm wrong?"

Deron sighed, putting a hand on Dusky's shoulder as she spoke, putting down the kitchen knife for the moment. "Listen... When a Pokémon begins to evolve, that doesn't necessarily mean they are being forced to. Giving a fire stone to a Growlithe forces it to evolve, yes, but if Pichu begins to evolve, it is completely on its own. It won't be forced, nor will it be sad or angry about it. Evolving is like growing up for Pokémon. Just consider it, would you have enjoyed to remain a child all the time? Or wouldn't you want to become an adult as you are n-?"

_CRASH._

Dusky and Deron both immediately turned their attention to the living room to see what had happened. It became quite clear as Dusky noticed the new location of her Eevee, the topped over table, and the picture frame on the floor. See, when Nidorino hopped onto the couch, he had frightened Eevee, who was very flighty. Upon being frightened, Eevee leaped off the crouch and tried to jump on the table. She hadn't jumped far enough and accidentally ran into the table, and as a result the table rocked back and forth for a few moments before falling over, the picture frame hitting the ground with it.

Dusky let out a hefty sigh before walking over to the mess. "Are you okay, Eevee?" she asked, picking the small Pokémon up. Eevee was shaking because of the loud sound, but was unharmed. Dusky tried her best to soothe her companion as she picked up the table and then the picture. The picture itself was fine, but the glass protecting the image had shattered. She placed Eevee back on the couch and walked to the pantry, pulling out a broom and dust pan and began sweeping up the mess. "At least no one was hurt," she said with a smile.

Pichu hurried over to help Dusky, alongside Kabuto as he too scurried over to the scene, looking at the mess that was made. Noticing a single fragment that fell a bit further, the Kabuto picked it up with his front claws, carefully scurrying over to Dusky to put it in the pan. He looked up at Dusky with big eyes, hoping to be considered helpful. Deron smiled at this fact, then noticed his Nidorino. While Dusky finished sweeping, Deron's mind was still back on their conversation. They'd continue when everything was clean again.

Dusky smiled and patted Kabuto gently before saying, "Thank you very much."

Pichu would have also helped pick up some glass when he caught sight of the picture. He picked it up and showed Dusky. "Pi...chu..." he said sadly, pointing to the smiling picture of Ryan. It wasn't uncommon for Pichu to become sad when he saw the picture of Ryan. Dusky nodded slowly.

"I miss him too, Pichu, you know that," she said as she finished picking up the glass. She threw away the shards and put the broom and dust pan up before picking up Pichu. "Come on, Pichu, let's finish cooking." Pichu held onto the picture as he sat on the counter, watching Dusky cook. He occasionally gazed at the photo, but would then go back to watching Dusky.

Meanwhile, as everyone else was rather distracted, Kadabra opened his eyes all of a sudden, walking over to a window and peering outside through it, as if he sensed something, his eyes affixed onto something outside. Vulpix watched Kadabra walking over to the window and she jumped off the couch, trotting over to him, wondering what he was looking at. She pressed her paws against the glass and looked through it. What did he see?

Kadabra did not even glance over to Vulpix as he peered down onto the streets. There was just a small group of thugs standing there, talking about random things too far away to be heard. It seemed as if they were up to no good, but if they were it wasn't anything effecting the apartment's inhabitants right then, and was unworthy of drawing the humans' attention to as of now. Kadabra just gazed at the group, narrowing his eyes. "...da... bra.." The two Pokémon kept their eyes on the suspicious crew, prepared to signal their trainers of danger if it seemed necessary.

When Dusky was back to cooking again, Deron continued, "Dusky... Take my Nidorino for example. I caught him as a Nidoran. When he evolved, I was really happy, but if he is to evolve into a Nidoking, I will have to get him a moon stone. Thing is, when I get one, I will leave the choice up to Nidorino on what he wants to do. I don't think it is our right to decide whether our Pokémon should evolve or not." He smiled over at Dusky as he followed her back into the kitchen.

Dusky didn't comment on what Deron said, as she figured it was pretty obvious he was right. She had been holding back Pichu for twelve years, because she was afraid of...of what? That Pichu would become stronger as a Pikachu? There was nothing to be afraid of. She had decided right then and there that the next time Pichu was ready to evolve, she'd let him.

She looked over at Deron's vegetables, chopped almost flawlessly. "That's perfect," she told him, taking the chopped up vegetables and adding them to the pot the stew was cooking in. Deron smiled at Dusky when she commented about the cut vegetables, glad he'd done well. Dusky added a few spices to the pot and then a bit more meat, along with some cream to thicken the stew, and soon the apartment was filled with a pleasant aroma. "It shouldn't be too much longer," she told Deron. "If you anything, just let me know."

Nodding, Deron headed out of the kitchen and now over to his Kabuto, holding his hand out to let it crawl up his arm and onto his shoulder. He then checked on Magnemite, who was just hovering about with his eye closed.

Dusky stirred and tended to the stew for a few minutes, then decided to let it sit for a while and peered back over into the living room. She walked over to the TV and turned it back on. When she pressed play on the DVD player, the movie started where it had left off before it was frozen by Magnemite. She carefully patted Nidorino on the head, hoping the small Pokémon was okay with her touching him. Nidorino's large ears perked up as Dusky sat next to him, blinking at her. As she patted him on the head, he lightly raised his lip a split second, before just resting his head down calmly, deciding to let the girl pat him for now. He peered over to Eevee then, watching as she jumped on Dusky's lap, curling into a tight ball, before Nidorino glanced over at the TV.

Vulpix and Kadabra watched the thugs for a little while until they started to make hand gestures and sneer, formulating some sort of plans together. Noting that they were pointing in their direction, Vulpix tapped Kadabra with her paws. "Vul!" She exclaimed urgently, then ran off. Kadabra glanced over at Vulpix as her paws tapped onto him, before he watched her leave, then turned his attention back to the thugs again after a few seconds. Vulpix made her way over to Dusky and tugged on her trainers shoe lace, striving for her attention. As Vulpix started nagging Dusky, both Nidorino and Deron peered over inquisitively, wondering what the fuss was about.

Dusky, two parts irritated and one part curious, peered down at the small fox-like Pokémon, reluctantly asking, "What is it, Vulpix?"

"Vul! Vulpix!" she growled, irritated that her trainer wasn't alarmed by her actions. She gave a strong tug on Dusky's shoe lace again, receiving a sigh from her trainer.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," muttered Dusky, holding Eevee in her arms as she stood to her feet. Vulpix, pleased her trainer was following her, led Dusky to the window. Slightly annoyed, Dusky glanced out the window. "What is-" She paused when she saw the group of thugs. They weren't a kindly sort, that much was obvious. Dusky turned slightly towards Deron, keeping her eyes on the men down below. "Deron... Come over here and check this out," she said softly.

Deron walked over to Dusky as she called him over. "What is it...?" He then spotted the group of thugs, who seemed oblivious to them watching. Deron turned his attention to Kadabra now. "Kadabra. Any idea what they are planning?"

The psychic Pokémon looked up at his trainer, before holding out his hand. "Kada..." Deron nodded firmly as he closed his eyes and grabbed Kadabra's hand, the voices of the scene downstairs echoing slightly in the recesses of his mind: "_...shouldn't be too hard at all. At least if you don't forget the plan. We break in, kill the trainer, kill any Pokémon and then just start looting. You don't loot until you're sure everyone is dead. Understood?_"

Deron heard enough, and let go of Kadabra's hand. Kadabra nodded and walk over to the front door, sitting down behind it and closing his eyes, continuing to rest. Deron frowned as he looked at the Kabuto on his shoulder, before looking at Dusky. "Lock your front door. If you know anyone specific living in these blocks, warn them. Tell them to shut their place down tight. These guys are looters, and that means they won't care for your life a single bit." He gestured to Nidorino and Magnemite, looking at them. "If they get inside, my Pokémon and I can handle them, if that happens, hide." He looked back at Dusky. Deron knew that only his Pokémon would put him at rest, but he wasn't implying that he didn't trust that hers were able to protect them. No, he just didn't want to risk Dusky and her much younger Pokémon getting hurt. Deron glanced over to Kabuto again. "Also. If they get inside, I want you to keep Kabuto with you and keep him safe. Kadabra, Nidorino, and Magnemite can fight, but Kabuto is too small as of yet." He glimpsed outside again. The thugs were gone. They most likely still had some time. Trash like that doesn't strike the lights are out.

Dusky, though still a bit confused, went to lock her door as Deron had instructed, Eevee still in her arms. Honestly, she was a bit scared, though she wouldn't admit it to him. Just as she placed her fingers on the deadbolt, she froze and turned to Deron. "I'm going to go warn Robbie — maybe a few neighbors." Eevee hopped up onto Dusky's shoulder, giving her trainer the use of her arms. She picked up the small pistol she had received from the man who held her at gun point earlier that day and put her hand on the doorknob. She looked to Growlithe, who was laying on the ground, watching her carefully, as if waiting for the words he knew would come. Dusky opened her mouth and said, "Come on, Growlithe, I don't think you'll let me go alone."

As the puppy Pokémon picked himself up off the floor, Pichu jumped of the counter top, letting the picture of Ryan and Dusky float to the ground. He ran right up to Dusky and leaped onto her free shoulder, smiling. Growlithe sat down by Dusky's feet, waiting to leave. "Oh, you're coming?" Dusky said, sounding surprised. She had expected Pichu to stay in the apartment. Pichu nodded and looked down to see Vulpix had also joined Growlithe at her feet, which caused her to smile. "Alright, you all can go."

_I'm not really sure if that's a good idea though..._ Dusky thought to herself as she looked by at Deron and said, "I should be back in about ten - fifteen minutes at most. If not... well, let's hope I'm back before dark." She then turned and opened the door, letting Vulpix and Growlithe out of the room before following them, letting the door swing shut behind them.

"Be careful." Deron called just as it clicked shut.

Dusky carefully made her way down the hall, her finger ready on the trigger. She wasn't sure how much time they had, and she just wanted to be ready - you never knew when danger would strike, especially with the way things were lately.

Within five minutes, Dusky had made it to the lobby, where Robbie was snoozing behind the counter, his loyal Zigzagoon sleeping peacefully at his feet. She glanced out the dirty glass doors and couldn't see any sign of the thugs, so she walked into the lobby, Growlithe and Vulpix trailing behind her. Eevee dug her claws into Dusky's shoulder out of fear, and Pichu was gripping her hair, sparks flying off his cheeks. Vulpix was sticking close to Dusky, so close that her trainer would occasionally trip over her. Growlithe was about a foot behind Dusky, walking so slow and menacingly that it was like he was prowling for his next victim.

Dusky walked up to Robbie and shook him awake. He jumped, startled from being awoken from his sleep and the fact that Dusky had a gun in her hand.

"D-Dusky?! What are you doing?!" Robbie stammered, Zigzagoon jumping to his feet and growling at Dusky in a feeble attempt to protect his trainer. Growlithe, angered by Zigzagoon threatening Dusky, leaped in front of Dusky, his usually light brown eyes having darkened to a foreboding black.

"Robbie, I'm not going to hurt you — the gun is for protection," Dusky explained with a sigh. "Look, Deron and I were in my apartment and—"

"Deron is the boy you brought in with you earlier, right?" Robbie said. Dusky sighed and nodded.

"Yes, he's the boy I brought in earlier, but that's not the point. Anyway, Deron and I were in my apartment and saw a group of thugs outside the building. Deron said they were looters, and I guess that's bad. I just wanted to warn you."

Robbie nodded and Dusky glanced at the clock on the wall. She had only been gone seven minutes, so she had been good to her word. Just as she was about to start walking down the hallway back to her apartment, she remembered Tommy and his mother — possibly his dad. They only lived ten minutes away from the apartment complex — if she ran, she could make it to their house and back in the same amount of time.

Dusky ran towards the door, pushing Robbie out of the way.

"Dusky?! Where are you going?! I'm locking the doors!" Robbie shouted.

"I'll be back soon!" Dusky called out to him over her shoulder. "If I'm not back in at least ten minutes, lock the door!"

And with that, she ran out of the building, Eevee and Pichu clinging to her jacket so they wouldn't fall off. Growlithe and Vulpix were running at full speed, easily keeping up with Dusky as she pushed herself to make it to Tommy's and back before Robbie locked the door.

Dusky prayed that no one saw her as she ran, especially those thugs, but she knew that someone would see her — she was making a lot of noise. Her dog tags were clinking loudly together, and her heavy leather boots were making a loud _'thud'_ noise each time her feet hit the ground.

Finally, she made it to their house and knocked frantically on the door, her breaths now nothing more than gasps for air. The door opened and Dusky was greeted by the sight of Tommy's father.

"Hm? Dusky, right?" he asked as he peered down at her. Unable to speak just yet, Dusky nodded. "Well, what is it that you want?"

"I...want to...know...if Tommy...and his mother are home yet?" Dusky managed to say between her desperate gasps for air. The man nodded.

"Yes, they just got home, but —"

"Lock the door," Dusky instructed. "Lock the door, grab a gun, if you have one, and hide — there are looters out and about, and I don't know where they plan on visiting."

As she spoke, she no longer felt the need to take a breathe as often, which was a good sign.

"Wh-why are you telling us this?" he stammered. Dusky shook her head.

"Tommy is like a brother to me... I don't want anything to happen to him — understood?" her voice was cold and even, but Tommy's father nodded. Dusky let out a hefty sigh. "Alright then — I'll be going."

She turned and started running back towards the apartments. She hadn't the slightest clue how long she had been gone, but she knew it had been over fifteen minutes since she left her apartment, which meant she didn't have much time. She could only hope the doors weren't locked. To make running easier, Dusky returned Eevee and Vulpix, who were beginning to grow weary from running. She tried to return Pichu, but he refused, and Dusky knew better than to try to get Growlithe to return to his Pokéballs. So, she just kept running, gun in hand, hoping not to run into anyone as she made her way back to the apartments.

Deron blinked as Dusky rushed out, who didn't even give him a chance to object. He sighed as he saw her run off. "Be careful." He called, then turned to his Pokémon, as Nidorino and Magnemite were just looking at him, while Kabuto was huddled up on his shoulder and Kadabra still comfortable next to the front door.

They all just stared at each other for a minute, before Magnemite hovered over to the window, peering outside. The sky was darkening not only by the coming of night, but also by dark clouds looming above. Seemed like tonight was a good night for a storm. If only the water that came down was useful... but most of the time, it was infected with the same toxic substance that infected most of the other remaining water... the substance that took away Deron's Blastoise.

Deron phased out, reliving the memories of his Blastoise in his head, looking down at the shell fragment hanging from his neck, until he got snapped back to reality by Magnemite. "Miiite!" Deron headed over to the window, blinking as he saw Dusky running out on her own. His eyes widened as he gritted his teeth. "Is she insane?!" He knew that if he were to run down the stairs, he wouldn't be able to catch up to her, so instead, he opened up a window. "Magnemite! Follow her! Stay high in the sky and out of viewing range. If she gets in trouble, help her! Make sure she's alright!" The metallic Pokémon nodded firmly, before floating out through the window, soaring off through the air above the city, keeping his eye locked on Dusky.

Deron then closed the window and reached for his gun, checking if it was loaded. "Nidorino. Kadabra. Make sure you're ready for anything. We might get some company if we're not careful." Nidorino didn't have to be told twice, as he always enjoyed a good fight. He instantly jumped down from the couch and started patrolling through the apartment, while Kadabra remained in his position, eyes closed as his focus seemed to be elsewhere.

The group of thugs were just outside an apartment block only a few doors away from Dusky's home. The night had fallen by now, and that was their cover to roam free. They were smoking some self-made cigarettes, and the stench from them pierced one's nose easily. They were dressed in scraggy leather jackets and second-hand jeans, obviously trying to impose themselves as some tough biker gang. One of them spoke to the others. "What time is it...?"

"Do I look like I got a watch, you nitwit?! We sold all the watches we had last time to get some smokes and drinks."

Some more, mostly incoherent, bickering continued, before what could be distinguished as their leader stepped in between them. "Enough, or I'm putting a slug in both your heads. Remember why we're here. That girl that ran out will be back soon, and that will be our ticket into the apartment block."

The others snickered to each other. "And what do we with the girl?"

The leader smirked. "Whatever you want..." Almost immediately, a very obscene discussion erupted. All of them dropped quiet, however, as a rumbling thunder crack combined with a lightning bolt lit up the dark, night sky, soon followed by a wave of rain washing over the city. The water didn't look like your usual blue, but had some more black-greenish tints in it, showing that you didn't want to use this as a drinking water by far. Further, the rain wasn't all that dangerous, but the thugs' attention was diverted to the side as they could hear someone running closer. They knew enough, as they would have expected it to be Dusky returning to her apartment. The thugs pulled out their weapons, mostly knives, except for three of them that carried a handgun each. They walked out into the street and aimed their weapons towards the source of the sound, expecting it to be Dusky, although their vision wasn't very clear yet because of the sudden, heavy rainfall. That's when their leader called out into the rain.

Dusky's feet were pounding hard against the pavement. When it began raining, she pulled up the hood on her jacket, mystified by the discoloration of the rain — how strange it appeared. She looked over to Growlithe, a fire type, and saw he wasn't handling the rain well. Though she knew how tough he was, a Pokémon, no matter how strong, couldn't handle weaknesses perfectly. She pulled his Pokéball off her belt and tried to get him to return, but when the red beam stretched out of the capsule, he dodged it, growling lowly at his trainer. Something wasn't right, it was obvious to Growlithe, but Dusky didn't seem to have the slightest clue.

Pichu hid himself under Dusky's hair and the hood of her jacket, staying protected from the strange rain. He was scared of storms, and the thunder and lightning was worrying him. So much, in fact, that sparks were flying rapidly off his cheeks as he clutched onto her shirt collar like his life depended on it.

"Alright, little brat! If you value your life and that of your Pokémon, you'll do what we say!"

Dusky paused as she heard the voice fill the air, even over the sound of the pouring rain, lightning, and thunder. The grip on the pistol in her right hand tightened as she froze in her place. Squinting through the rain, she could make out a group of men, and she was sure it was the thugs. She muttered a few _choice_ words under her breath — so much for getting back safely. Deron was going to be irritated she got in trouble... if she made it back to him.

Growlithe crouched lowly, the loud growl ripping from his throat, the low glow from the powerful flamethrower attack he was getting prepared giving his mouth a threatening illumination. As if in response to Growlithe's power, the broken Fire Stone in Dusky's jacket pocket warmed up a bit — the stone was a gift from Ryan when she was young. It was so she could evolve Growlithe if she ever needed to.

The leader's eyes turned to the Growlithe however, as he aimed his gun at the Pokémon. "I wouldn't try that, mutt! You're a fire Pokémon in the rain, and a bullet will kill you as fast as any other living being!" He grinned.

"Growlithe... You have better eyesight than me; do you see them, too?" Dusky asked him, making sure she was correct.

Growlithe's eyes narrowed into slits as he slowly prowled protectively in front of his trainer. His eyesight easily cut through the cascading rain to the group in front of them — these sure weren't any little kids. Some were armed with guns, but a knife was the weapon of choice for a few. Growlithe nodded at his trainer and a few more profanities escaped her lips.

Pichu felt the uneasiness coming from Dusky and he timidly peeked out from behind the shield of his trainer's hair, peering at what was front of them. He squinted and saw the thugs. Being so surprised at the amount of weapons facing them, he tumbled off her shoulder and fell flat on his face.

The thugs burst into laughter as the Pichu fell face-first onto the wet soil. "Pathetic!"

"Pichu!" Dusky squeaked. The electric mouse Pokémon stood up quickly and looked up at his trainer. She was nervous. He glanced to Growlithe and was surprised to see that on his face, despite the amount of hatred put on to mask it, Pichu could see Growlithe was worried... that Growlithe was scared.

This hit Pichu hard. Growlithe was the strongest Pokémon he knew, and he was _scared_?

Dusky hadn't realized how long she had been quiet. The thug — probably the leader — called out again. "Oy! Did you hear me the first time?"

Dusky gripped the gun tighter, her knuckles now white, and stepped in front of Pichu and Growlithe, slowly raising her right hand. "You won't lay a damn finger on them!" she called back over the rain as lighting flashed and thunder boomed in the sky, venom practically dripping from the words she spoke.

The thugs made whispers and grunts of disapproval, but the leader remained calm, just speaking up again after silencing his men. "Now then, brave little brat... We'll consider sparing you and your Pokémon, if you'll be so kind to let us in your apartment block." The leader's tone was a sadistic one, obviously not planning on letting her and her Pokémon live.

Pichu glanced up at Dusky in awe; the nervousness seemed to have left his trainer. It appeared she was going to give her life for them if it came to that. Very slowly, Dusky turned her head to Pichu and Growlithe, keeping her eyes on the large group of thugs.

"Pichu... Jump up and grab Vulpix and Eevee's Pokéball... You four run back to the apartment. Get Deron and then leave. Understood?"

Growlithe opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw Dusky's face. It was cold and mean — she wasn't in any mood to argue. Pichu peered up at their trainer. He hadn't seen this side of her before. She was so protective, so caring, and this filled Pichu with joy. That's when he started to glow brightly, cutting through the rain and darkness of the city. Dusky gasped. "Pichu. . . ?"

She was about to reach for the Everstone in her pocket when she remembered the conversation she had Deron had moments before.

She let her hand fall to her side.

They all turned their guns towards her again, before the bright light from the Pichu interrupted them. "What the...?!" Surprised they all looked down at the small Pokémon.

Magnemite, who was hovering above Dusky as ordered by Deron saw what happened, was alarmed by the flash of light. He soared down as fast as he could, already hardening himself once more. He knew humans more than well enough to know they wouldn't let Pichu evolve just like that.

The thugs blinked, before their leader yelled. "It's evolving! Kill it!" They rapidly turned their guns towards the glowing Pokémon and pulled the triggers. They all felt rather confident as their metal slugs exited their guns, but the confidence died as bullets soon struck a solid metal coating, diverting off course as Magnemite rushed down to protect the evolving Pokémon. The leader took a step back, then quickly raised his gun at Dusky. If he couldn't kill the evolving rat, he could always finish off the trainer before she could order her Pokémon to act."You're dead now, you hear me!?"

Meanwhile, up in Dusky's apartment, Deron was just sitting on the couch, frowning. Dusky should have been back by now. The rain obscured the view from the window, so he couldn't see whether she was arriving or not.

Gunshots suddenly rang through his ears, filling the air, and in response Deron rushed over to the window. Noticing a glowing light through the rain, his eyes widening. "Dusky..." He didn't waste any time and immediately began to act, starting by tossing Kabuto on the couch. As the small Pokémon bounced about, he looked curiously over at his trainer as Deron pulled out a Pokéball and called Nidorino back. "Let's go, Nidorino! Party time! Kadabra. Stay with Kabuto!" The psychic Pokémon nodded as his trainer rushed out the door and started sprinting down the staircase. He wasn't going to be able to arrive on time to rescue Pichu, but he might as well try.

* * *

_**CREDITS SECTION:**_ The RPA users credited with writing Part Two of _Pokemon: The Change_ are:

**RPA Username** *other potential info* {_character(s) they controlled/Parts they wrote_}  


**Tetsuya** *former GM and creator of RP*

**DuskingMorning** {_Dusky; Growlithe; Pichu; Vulpix; Eevee; Saffron Citizens_}

**E1Alpha** {_Deron; Magnemite; Nidorino; Kabuto; Kadabra; Looter Thugs_}

**Preach** *co-GM of original RP*

**Potatrobot** *co-GM of original RP*

**CartelSaide** *me* {revised and edited everything; reformatted everything from RP to story format}

* * *

_Pokémon is property of Nintendo._


End file.
